Oh, s#$t

Not good. Not good at all: At least 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in an ambush by Kurdish militants shortly after midnight on Sunday, in an audacious attack that sharply increased the pressure on Turkey?s government to send troops into northern Iraq. A group of Kurdish fighters moved into Turkey from northern Iraq, the Turkish military said, and attacked Turkish soldiers based near the town of Hakkari, about 25 miles from the border, in three different locations, killing 12 and injuring another 16. Turkish soldiers then struck back, firing from helicopters and from the ground, killing at least 23 militants, according to the military, which provided its account in a statement. In a statement on a Kurdish website, the militants said they captured eight Turkish soldiers, but the claim could not be substantiated. The attack came just four days after Turkey?s parliament voted to give the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan full authority to send troops into northern Iraq to strike at Kurdish militants who hide there. At the time, Turkish officials emphasized that they would not immediately apply the authority, and security experts said the resolution would be used mainly as political leverage to press the United States and its Iraqi Kurdish allies to act against the Kurdish militants, the Kurdistan Workers Party, known by its initials, the P.K.K. But Sunday?s attack was one of the worst in recent memory, and the government, which has been skeptical of an offensive in the past, will be under intense pressure to act. UPDATE: The AP calms me down... a little: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday it appears Turkey's military is not on the verge of invading northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels responsible for a deadly attack on Turkish soldiers. Gates told reporters that in a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, he advised against launching a major cross-border incursion despite the continuing provocations. ''I'm heartened that he seems to be implying a reluctance on their part to act unilaterally, and I think that's a good thing,'' Gates said. ''I didn't have the impression that anything was imminent.''.... In his remarks to reporters, Vecdi said he told Gates that Turkey expects the U.S. to do more to constrain the PKK in Iraq, although he would not spell that out in detail. ''We'd like to have something tangible'' from the Americans, he said. ''We expect this. Any kind of tangible actions.'' Asked what Turkey's military leaders were preparing for, Gonul replied: ''They are planning to cross (the) border.''ANOTHER UPDATE: The NYT has more on what the U.S. will need to do to prevent Turkey from a cross-border incursion: Mr. Erdogan said he had told Ms. Rice in a phone conversation Sunday night that Turkey expected ?speedy steps from U.S.? in cracking down on Kurdish rebels, and according to The Associated Press, he said that she had expressed sympathy and asked ?for a few days? from him. The Iraqi government also began a concerted effort to reach out to Turkey. ?Our anger is great,? Mr. Erdogan said on national television here before he conferred with Turkey?s top political and military officials in an emergency security meeting. ?We have the decisiveness to act on these events in cold-blood, and so we are determined.? The early-morning attack, which were condemned by Iraqi officials and the Bush administration, sharply increased the pressure on Turkey?s government to ignore the wishes of its American allies and send troops into northern Iraq.