An agreement to pull back from hair-trigger confrontation was signed:
Iraq's central government and Kurdish leaders have reached a deal aimed at easing a military standoff that began last month, the country's president announced Thursday.
The agreement calls for both sides to eventually withdraw their military forces from disputed areas in Iraq's north, though there is no timetable for how soon the drawdown might take place.
After more than three decades of war, you'd think that the Iraqis would cherish their position as a relative island of stability and prosperity in the Middle East.
