Following on from my earlier link to the Sunday Herald article about alleged Kurdish involvement in Saddam's capture, the NY Times fleshes out the details of a reported deal that's shaping up between Washington and the Kurds.

"The Bush administration has decided to let the Kurdish region remain semi-autonomous as part of a newly sovereign Iraq despite warnings from Iraq's neighbors and many Iraqis not to divide the country into ethnic states," the Times claims.

Looks like the White House could be gearing up to repay the favour for leading them to the Ace of Spades, under the guise of time pressures for Iraqi self-rule to be established.