The nation within the state flexes its muscle

THE WORLD: "Iraqi Kurds Are Importing Arms: Three planeloads of munitions from Bulgaria worry officials in Baghdad," by Ernesto Londono, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 1-7 December 2008.

The Kurds are importing arms from Bulgaria. Baghdad says it's not legal, but a close reading of the constitution says otherwise--as in, it's not illegal.

The Kurds weren't stupid. They haven't entered into any political arrangements that disallow their effective independence within a presumably federated Iraq. They've got their state militia--the Pesh Merga--and they intend to keep it up to date with arms.

The Kurds have been running their own universe since 1991 and guess what? They don't plan on changing that anytime soon--or actually ever.

Yes, down the road, one can expect a Shiia-dominated center to try to re-establish far more expansive control over the north. The Kurds have been planning for this day since 2003, which is why I've been arguing--for years now--that eventually and inevitably America will end up leaving behind a trip wire military force in the north.

And the Kurds are more than open to this notion, sensing the protection it would offer them:

Central government officials have recently bristled at Barzani's offer to allow U.S. troops to establish bases in the Kurdish autonomous region, saying the regional government has no authority to make such an overture, especially as Iraqi officials are calling for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops.

If Obama is as smart as many of us think he is, he will see the wisdom of this course: U.S. troops in the south will be provocative, but trip wire troops in the north--as well as the ones we'll keep in Kuwait.

It's what I've called the 2K solution.