Thanks to Meriadoc for recommending the War Nerd. Some great journalism here!
I've come to really root for the Kurds throughout all this. I know it's America's defined agenda to maintain one (friendly) government over all of Iraq, but the Kurds seem to me that they could handle having independence over their own territory, based on my limited understanding. American sanctions against their burgeoning oil industry be damned, I would very much like to visit Kurdistan.
Same here. I feel like if the US was to provide aid to any forces in Iraq (which I'm not necessarily in favor of), it ought to be the peshmerga. They're well-trained, dedicated, and have proven their effectiveness. And even beyond that, the rest of Iraq has been shitting on the Kurds for years. It's kind of gratifying to see them finally get some respect (and some Kirkuk).
As a geopolitician, it really makes me happy to see someone emphasizing the constraining effect of geography/topography on military and demographic outcomes.