Sketchy Iraq Intelligence

Based on everything we've heard in the news media about Washington's apparent disenchantment with Nouri al-Maliki, and in as much as I am personally disillusioned by Time failing to name him Man of the Year in light of his having been able to hold a fragile, volatile Iraqi state in the midst of a civil war, together, with rapidly dwindling support, credit Time with alerting us to the fact that al-Qaeda-in-Iraq was yet another Washington myth, perhaps intended to perpetuate the unending Holy War that a former Time Man of the Year, Ayatollah Khomeini, once so seemingly desired.

Here's the sketchy intelligence:

Built in the 1980s on the Tigris River near Mosul, the dam made headlines in June after a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said potential erosion of its foundation could cause it to buckle under the water pressure, flooding Mosul and parts of Baghdad, 225 miles to the south.

"We have some intelligence that says it was part of a bigger plot. There is some intelligence that they may have wanted to cut off that side of the river to make safe havens," Hertling said. "There are some indications that they wanted to close that route because it is used by coalition forces."

In other words, after the Army Corps reports that a dam might be susceptible to failure, it suddenly becomes a target of al-Qaeda-In-Iraq, an organization that arguably, does not even exist and at a time when we know Washington is lobbying to oust Maliki ?

Hertling added: "I personally think it is an additional indicator that these people who are trying to disrupt the people of Iraq will do anything to screw up the people of Iraq."

Why would al-Qaeda-in-Iraq attempt to destabilize parts of the Kurdish region at a time when the Turks are attacking parts of that region ? Is al-Qaeda supporting the Turks ?