For months now, Turkish politicians and Army officers have been hinting that the Turkish Army could mount an invasion of northern Iraq in a effort to suppress Kurdish Nationalists. Last week there was a suicide bomb attack in Ankara that killed a number civilians. Today, the BBC World News Service is reporting that Turkish troops appear to be massing on the northern frontier of Iraq.

Tension is rising on Turkey’s border with Iraq amid speculation Ankara may be about to launch an incursion to tackle Kurdish rebels. Turkey is continuing a military build up and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to rule out action. Turkey blames rebels of the PKK group for a recent suicide bombing in Ankara and a landmine attack on troops.

Turkey has an ongoing military campaign against the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, inside its borders but the US has warned Ankara that sending troops into Iraq would only complicate the situation.

Last week two US F-16 fighter jets based in Iraq made an incursion into Turkish airspace that Turkish media said was an attempt to intimidate Ankara into refraining from any action inside Iraq.

The US said the violation of the airspace was “unintended” and was under investigation.

Click here to read the full story on the BBC.

BAGHDAD — Staff Sgt. David Safstrom does not regret his previous tours in Iraq, not even a difficult second stint when two comrades were killed while trying to capture insurgents.

“In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place,” he said. “There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome.”

But now on his third deployment in Iraq, he is no longer a believer in the mission. The pivotal moment came, he says, this February when soldiers killed a man setting a roadside bomb. When they searched the bomber’s body, they found identification showing him to be a sergeant in the Iraqi Army.

“I thought: ‘What are we doing here? Why are we still here?’ ” said Sergeant Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the First Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.”

His views are echoed by most of his fellow soldiers in Delta Company, renowned for its aggressiveness. Click here to read more of this article from the New York Times.

WASHINGTON, May 24 — Congress handed a major victory to low-income workers on Thursday night by approving the first increase in the federal minimum wage rate in a decade.

By a vote of 348 to 73, the House approved the measure as part of a deal on Iraq spending. Less than two hours later, the wage increase was approved in the Senate, where it was combined with a bill providing more money for the Iraq war. That vote was 80 to 14.

The measure would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 in three stages over two years. The bill includes $4.84 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. They have made a case, supported by Republicans and the White House, that the wage increase would be a burden for them. Click here to read more.

From the New York Times. A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers has withdrawn his name from consideration to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission as a growing number of Senators questioned both his suitability and a $150,000 departure payment that the association was preparing to give him.

Administration officials and Congressional leaders said that the lobbyist, Michael E. Baroody, decided to step aside after it became clear that his nomination would be rejected by the Senate commerce committee. It was scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing on Thursday. Thank you Senate Democrats! Click here to read more.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.

Crawford, Tx. In a biting rebuke the White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as “increasingly irrelevent” after his harsh criticism of President Bushie.

Jimmy Carter blasted Bush on Saturday as saying “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”

The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an “overt reversal of America’s basic values” as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther, former President George H.W. Bush.

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman responded by name-calling and abusive remarks about the former President who has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Let us remind our readers that in a few months, Bush will be  the irrelevent one. Click here to read more about this story.

The fragile compromise on immigration reform proposed this week by the U.S. Senate has angered conservatives. While many liberals and progressive comentators have also expressed reservations, it is the conservatives who who feel that they have been betrayed by the White House. Click here to read about the major provisions of the proposed reforms.

All sorts of special interest groups are beginning to clamor for changes and revisions.  Whether or not the compromise will continue to hold together is a real question.  It appears that John McCain may be the only Republican candidate to support the immigration reforms.

GOP presidential candidates are especially affected because they need to appeal to far right wing forces in order to obtain a nomination in the Republican Party. The neo-conservative base of the Republican party seems to prefer a solution that would deport all twelve million unregistred residents and their native born children.  So far, McCain, Brownback and Gingrich have all weighed in and found themselves in hot water. Click here for an article from the Washington Post on the Republican split.

Key figures on the right, including conservative talk radio hosts, analysts at the Heritage Foundation and National Review columnists, derided the agreement as a sellout of conservative principles, while GOP presidential candidates criticized the plan as a form of amnesty — a characterization rejected by the White House.  As a side issue, this plan is likely to disrupt relations between Bush and his conservative cronies in congress (what a shame).

Presidenital aspirant, Senator Sam Brownback, an original sponsor of the legislation, has flip flopped to express his new disgust for his bill.  “I would not vote for the same bill,” Mr. Brownback told reporters yesterday morning only hours after having voted for the legislation on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who last year said similar efforts for a comprehensive immigration bill were “reasonable,” called the deal reached this week the “wrong approach” to the problem. “Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new Z Visa does, is a form of amnesty,” he said.

It is John McCain (R-Az.) who probably faces the toughest challenge.  McCain’s campaign which has been foundering of late, now has to deal with anger and criticism from the far right. According to several sources, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) got into a shouting match when Cornyn began voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals illegal immigrants could make. After McCain swore at Cornyn and accused him of trying to blow up the pact, Cornyn accused the presidential candidate of “parachuting” into the negotiations at the last minute.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used the Georgia Republican Convention on Friday to air complaints about a Senate compromise on immigration reform. He called the plan a citizenship “giveaway,” adding, “These inherited bureaucracies do not work.”

Rush Limbaugh has announced his opposition on his radio program.  He believes that this issue “could kill the Republican Party.”  Click here to read more.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.

In a story from Reuters today, Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Germany, Britain, Australia and Canada all provide better care for less money, the Commonwealth Fund report found. “The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes,” the non-profit group which studies health care issues said in a statement.

Canada rates second worst out of the five overall. Germany scored highest, followed by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“The United States is not getting value for the money that is spent on health care,” Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis said in a telephone interview. Click Here to Read More.

In a related story, medical tourism, the practice of obtaining expensive medical treatments abroad is booming. Click here for a story about medical tourism.

The Bush Administration has apparently failed to pursuade the World Bank Executive Board that Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the Iraq War, should remain as chief of that institution.  Apparently only Japan backed the U.S. and all other members of the board including Canada, France, Germany and Britain voted to oust him, a severe rebuff of the Administration.

This breaking news can be read on the Reuters News wire.  As more complete stories become available, we will post them.