The Iraqi Kurdish administration led by Massoud Barzani is now coming to terms with the facts that they are not indispensable for the United States and that when the chips are down Washington will side with Turkey.

They also see that Turkey will continue to move in and out of their territory to harass the PKK terrorists and the U.S. will not lift a finger as long as the attacks do not gather Iraqi Kurdish civilians and or directly threaten the stability in northern Iraq. This on paper definitely undermines their authority both in eyes of the international community and in the eyes of the Kurdish public opinion...

So the Kurds are up in arms.

Massoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdish semi-autonomous region, is angered that the Americans have helped Turkey in several ways to launch three cross border raids in the past week. Turkish jets hit PKK targets inside northern Iraq last Sunday and Saturday with American blessing.

"The Americans are responsible because the Iraqi sky is under their full control." These were the words of Massoud Barzani, a staunch US ally.

Barzani knows - in fact everybody in Iraq knows - that the operation could not have taken place without the green light from Washington.

Some Iraqi officials and their American friends who feel deep sympathy to the Kurds tried to leak stories to damage Turkish-US cooperation against the PKK by claiming that Turkey was too late to inform the U.S. about its raid last Sunday. But Pentagon officially denied this and said it was notified of the Turkish incursions well in advance and was happy with the cooperation so far.

A Kurdistan Alliance leader in Baghdad criticized U.S. policy of providing military assistance to Turkish troops in their attacks against PKK targets in northern Iraq describing the cooperation as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

While stressing the strength of U.S.-Kurdish relations, Kurdish leader and lawmaker Dr Mahmoud Othman said, "U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the bombing of regions in northern Iraq is a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a breach of U.S. commitment to protect Iraq's sovereignty and borders."

"It also contradicts the declaration of intentions and principles signed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush last month, which provides for U.S. protection of Iraqi borders and national government," the parliamentarian indicated.

Slashing the United States for providing "incorrect intelligence reports" to the Turks, Othman claimed, "The victims of the Turkish shelling were civilians," in reference to the air raids last Sunday.

Last Tuesday Turkish Ambassador to Washington Nabi Sensoy said that the U.S. administration provided Turkey with necessary intelligence that led to raids in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq.'

Turkey, a long-time member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has cooperated with the United States in anti-communist activities since the 1950s. It has been complaining that the Americans have done little to nothing in terms of combating the PKK based in northern Iraq.

Ironically, the Americans believe the PKK is a terrorist group and labels it as such. So does NATO and the European Union.

Syrian Middle Eastern expert Sami Moubayed says the US is reluctant to clamp down on the PKK in northern Iraq for a variety of reasons. "They know - thanks to Turkey - how difficult it is to combat a guerilla movement. The Turks have been doing it since the 1970s and they have not succeeded at bring the PKK to its knees - despite the arrest of the party's founder and leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in the 1990s."

Moubayed says if the Turks, who know the terrain and are fighting on their own territory, have been unable to eliminate the PKK, then the US, with its very limited hands-on military experience, certainly will not. "Plus, the Americans already have too much to cope with, combating a Sunni and Shiite insurgency in central Iraq."

He says the Americans are combating - at once - the Mahdi Army of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, former Baathists loyal to ex-president Saddam Hussein, and al-Qaeda. "And to say the least, the US is winning none of these wars. It simply cannot open another front in the relatively stable district of northern Iraq. That is why it has turned a blind eye to PKK activity in Iraqi Kurdistan, enabling the military group to set up bases, recruit people and purchase arms for cross-border operations into Turkey".

Moubayed says a second reason for US caution is the fragile political system within Iraq. "America's ally, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has lost all of his principle backers in the Iraqi government. The Sunnis, represented by the Iraqi Accordance Front, have walked out on him since this summer. So has the Sadrist bloc of Muqtada, which is very powerful among young people in the Shi'ite community. The last on the walkout list is former prime minister Iyad Allawi, who has his eyes set on replacing Maliki and who represents a secular, cross-confessional parliamentary coalition."

Moubayed says Maliki's only allies are what remains of the United Iraqi Alliance, an Iran-backed Shi'ite coalition, and two Kurdish blocs headed by Barzani and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. "Simply put, Maliki cannot risk alienating Iraqi Kurds - who are supportive of the PKK - or else his government will become unconstitutional."

Moubayed says the Americans know that and they are afraid of what post-Maliki Iraq would look like. "Violence has been reduced in recent weeks, thanks to the cooperation of Iran, Muqtada and several Sunni tribesmen who are using US arms to combat al-Qaeda. According to Maliki, violence has dropped by 77%. This is the first "success story" both he and Bush have had in Iraq since the killing of al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June 2006."

Moubayed says the Americans need Kurdish support for the prime minister. In addition to backing them on the issue of the PKK (without actually saying it), Maliki has hinted he is in favor of giving oil-rich Kirkuk, a province between Arabs and Kurds, to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Sunni Arab experts say the hands-on reality, however, shows a major u-turn in the US attitude towards the entire crisis. Turkish forces have penetrated kilometers into Iraqi Kurdistan - and the US has not stopped them.

Sunni Arab experts say when in October the Turkish Parliament approved cross border operations into Iraq, the Iraqis should have realized that the Turkish government was very serious. Observers say the Kurds probably betted on the US not letting the Turks attack northern Iraq. They were wrong.

Experts say what hat makes this operation different from past operations in the 1990s against the PKK is the amount of information-sharing that has taken place between the Americans and the Turks. This has been the first time that Turkish F-16s fighters were equipped with US-made low altitude navigation and targeting infrared for night vision that makes it easier to spot - and hit - PKK positions.

General Yasar Buyukanit, the Turkish chief of general staff, backed this argument, "America last night opened [Iraqi] airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to the operation." In a strong statement towards the PKK and its supporters in Iraq, he added, "Even if it is winter, even if there is snow, and even if they live in caves, we will find them and hit them. These operations will continue all the time ... We know these places like the back of our hand."

Tom Casey, a spokesman for the US State Department, made his country's position clear by saying, "We face a common enemy from the PKK. It is a terrorist organization and we certainly want to see actions taken that put it out of business." The same position was echoed by the European Union.

Analysts say the operations over the past few days have been a preview of what Turkey can do in northern Iraq, although the message carried different meanings to different parties. The Americans are apologizing to the Kurds, saying they had to say yes as they had no other choice.

The US would rather upset its Kurdish friends than bring the relative stability that has recently been achieved in Iraq to a halt. The message came across loud and clear to the Kurds, explaining why Barzani refused to meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday during her sudden visit to Iraq. He was showing how disgusted the Kurds are with the United States.

Syrian analyst Sami Moubayed says toying with the Kurds - then abandoning them - is not new to the United States. "In 1974, Henry Kissinger encouraged Iraqi Kurds to riot against their government in order to drain the energy of the Iraqi army and divert Baghdad's attention from supporting Syria's efforts to combat Israel. Kissinger fanned the flames of conflict in Iraq and was very generous with the Kurds, prompting Molla Mustafa Barzani (the father of current leader Massoud) to send him expensive rugs as a token of appreciation and a gold necklace for his bride on the occasion of Kissinger's marriage in March 1974.

"This, among Kissinger's numerous endeavors, was revealed during the Watergate investigations of 1976, in what became known as the Pike Report. The testimony said that Kissinger had armed and financed the Kurds to dissuade Iraq from 'adventurism', such as coming to the aid of Syria. The report adds, 'Our clients, who were encouraged to fight, were not told of this policy.' The Kurds were never meant to win, only to weaken Iraq and materialize US interests in the Middle East. The Kurds - Barzani in particular - should know better and re-read the history of their people's friendship with the United States."

Analysts say the Americans also had a message to the Sunni tribes that are using US arms to combat al-Qaeda in Iraq, known as the Anbar Awakening Council. These Sunni leaders are very much opposed to giving up Kirkuk to the Kurds. They were applying a policy to wait and see whether the US and Maliki would let oil-rich Kirkuk be annexed to Iraqi Kurdistan. The fact that no census has been made and no plebiscite will take place before the December 31 deadline is a strong message to them. The Americans are saying that they should not worry. Again, this is bad news to the Kurds. If these tribesmen decide to stop combating al-Qaeda - or even worse, to work with it - then Bush is back to square one in Iraq. If appeasing them means keeping Kirkuk with the Arabs and letting Turkey strike at the PKK, then so be it. It is a price the US is clearly willing to pay.