"U. S. troops were surrounded by Kurdish peshmerga troops"

[Robbien]

U.S. Troops Launch Two Secret Raids in Iraq

U.S. troops staged two secret raids in northern Iraq today, ABC News has learned, capturing as many as six Iranians and only narrowly avoiding a gun battle with local security forces, according to the Iraqi foreign ministry and local officials in northern Iraq's Kurdish region.

<snip>

In the second raid, staged later in the day, U.S. troops attempted to abduct more people from inside the perimeter of Irbil airport, but were surrounded by Kurdish peshmerga troops.

"This group has come from nowhere," Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told ABC News. "They were unwilling to reveal their identity and entered the airport, which is a very sensitive area, and there was a response by the local forces."

Both sides were heavily armed, and shooting very nearly broke out. "There weren't any casualties, but it was a split second really for a disaster to happen. This has created a great deal of anxiety," said Zebari.

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5926892

also the article gives the answer to if the building in the early raid was actually an Embassy/Consulate:

The liaison office that was raided issues travel permits for Iraqis traveling to Iran and other consular tasks and is on a waiting list to be officially declared a consulate. Technically, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, the Iranians working in the liaison are not diplomats.

[Taverner]

1. shades of Tonkin...

[damntexdem]

3. No, way beyond that:

1) U.S. troops were close to getting into a firefight with the Peshmerga in a Kurd-held area -- the Kurds are the U.S.'s closest erstwhile allies, but they have plenty of historical reasons to hate the Bushies;
2) this was a raid on a diplomatic site, a consulate.

It sounds like the wheels are really coming off in Iraq, where the tires have already long been flat. How's the U.S. going to keep 'turning corners' in Iraq with the wheels off? Yeah, we'll keep going around in circles, but we won't be able to spin our wheels anymore. ;-)

[butterfly77]

2. I heard that there was a fire fight ...

three blocks from the green zone the other day.

[leftchick]

4. special forces?

or US contractors? Either way it is clear Iraq is no fucking democracy or sovereign nation.

[NNN0LHI]

5. The Kurds were on the Iranians side during the Iran/Iraq war

Wonder how this will play out?

Don

[Rex]

6. How do they know it was America troops?

So we abducted some Iranians in a council building? If that is Bush's idea of 'cracking down' on Iranians helping Iraqis, then he's been smoking way to much crack. All that does is escala...wait a minute! I get it now. Make the Iranians start shit and claim you have no choice.