This is no time for conciliation. Wars happens neither because America talks tough nor because the White House makes it clear that it will spare no effort to defend its allies against external threats.

In the transition from an old dictator to a new one, some observers were losing faith in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, believing it had lost its magic touch in the arts of dissembling. Others had deeper faith, though, and they were rewarded last week when the State Department proudly announced the umpteenth breakthrough toward the goal of denuclearizing North Korea.

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.

Iraqi Kurdistan will always be weaker than Turkey and, to officials in Washington, it will always be less important than Turkey so long as Turkey remains in NATO. Still, the Kurdistan Regional Government can seize diplomatic initiative and perhaps protect its own people and force Turkey to moderate its actions, if only Kurdish leaders would play their hand more skillfully.

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.

It's time Washington learn the lesson: Gadhafi's history shows that diplomacy with rogue rulers is a waste of time.

Every Kurdish official, foreign businessman, or diplomat, knows that regional leader Masud Barzani and his immediate family have far greater power than Kurdistan’s constitution indicates.