Gen. Joseph W. Ralston in 1999, now retired. | View larger image

WASHINGTON — The retired general who served as President Bush's special envoy to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said the United States has failed to keep its promises to Turkey to confront the Kurdish terrorist group, and Turkey may feel that it has no choice but to attack the PKK's sanctuary in northern Iraq.

In his first extended comments since his departure, Ralston told McClatchy Newspapers that the United States is unwittingly "driving, strategically, the Turks and the Iranians together" because both nations share concerns about violent Kurdish separatist groups.

"The U.S. government should make good on the commitments they have made to the Turks," Ralston said.

Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States, while the United States and Iran are increasingly in confrontation across a range of issues.