Iraq: A Kurdish Breakthrough and a Long Ways To Go

After several weeks of meetings, the major Kurdish parties -- the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Gorran Movement -- have made a breakthrough in negotiations. The meeting Sept. 12 was the first trilateral intra-Kurdish political meeting in two years, and the groups seem to be in the final stages of agreement on several key points that make up the seven-point agreement they are negotiating. Even though the Iraqi Kurdish parties seem to have finally hashed out a partial agreement, there are many more negotiations ahead. And it remains to be seen whether this breakthrough will be enough to overcome opposition to the Kurdistan independence referendum....