Pentagon tries to call off the fighting between Kurds and Iraqi Govt.

via Defense News.

 The U.S. may consider halting its massive train-and-equip program for Iraqi forces if the Iraqi military continues its offensive against Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq, a defense official said Monday.

Over the weekend U.S.-equipped Iraqi forces entered Kirkuk, an oil-rich, Kurdish-controlled city, in response to the Kurdish region’s independence vote on Sept. 25. Several exchanges of gunfire were reported Monday as Iraqi forces took over Kurdish-controlled buildings and facilities in Kirkuk.

The U.S.-led task force in command of operations in Iraq and Syria issued a statement Monday that urged all sides to avoid escalations, but downplayed the movement of Iraqi military vehicles into Kirkuk as “coordinated movements, not attacks,” and called the predawn gunfire “a misunderstanding and not deliberate.”

Story here. 

Too little too late.

This thing is done and this fight isn't the real news.  The real news is that this is the first skirmish in the post ISIS fight.

Now things can get dicey.

What happens if the Turks annex Syrian territory?  Will Syria fight?  How will Turkey and MAYBE even Iraq deal with terror attacks by Kurds?  Will the Kurds go full throttle?  How do the Kurds view the US now?  They were our most reliable allies in the fight against ISIS and it seems (I'm not sure...this is the most murky fight I've seen ever!) we've thrown them under the bus.

What is Israel trying to do?  They supported Kurdish independence and I wouldn't be surprised to see Israeli Special Ops roaming the battlefield.  What's their desired end state in all this?

This whole game of throne things might make a great TV series but it sucks in real life.