Full U.S. Control Planned for Iraq (washingtonpost.com)

By rejecting a federal system, see end of article, the US loses the internal support it should be building. Really looks like a plan to screw the Kurds again. A lot of the hold-up on Turkey basing approval is Turkey wanting to get more formal approval to clear out the Kurds from near it's borders. The other is the traditional Turkish bazaar nature of politics, I had fun buying a leather jacket in Turkey but most Westerners don't like haggling over prices.