Hay's mission was to establish civil administration as the British took control of Iraq from Ottoman authorities.

Once again, as in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the Obama administration's silence has consequences.

The failure of Kurdish leaders to fulfill their diplomatic agenda extends beyond the latest Turkish incursion. Turkey's occupations, however, provide the Kurdistan Regional Government with an opportunity.

On July 14, 2011, Frédéric Tissot, France's consul-general in Iraqi Kurdistan, stood up at Bastille Day celebrations in Erbil and, in the presence of regional president Masud Barzani, spoke about the need for freedom and democracy in the region.

The United States must demonstrate that it is a reliable ally by negotiating the extension of some US military presence in Iraq after 2011.

Iraq should begin considering what it will do if Iraqi President Jalal Talabani dies. If they start considerations now, the transition of power will be much smoother.

The current administration plan foresees thousands of American civilians going into Iraq in 2012. Of the many problems with this plan, a few stand out. We have been hearing about "civilian surges" into Iraq and Afghanistan for years, yet the nondefense contributions to such surges have been limited, slow to arrive, and painful to maintain.

The United States should protect the Iraqi electoral process from anyone seeking to manipulate its outcome.