Debate rages over Turkey troop snafu

[54anickel]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-06-143409.asp?reg=EUROPE

"Ties with Turkey were badly strained when Ankara's parliament last March rejected a request to allow the U.S. Fourth Armored Division to attack Iraq via Turkish routes.

Months later, under increased pressure not to oppose Washington again on a critical issue, Turkey's parliament on Oct. 7 backed a U.S. request and voted to send troops to Iraq.

But opposition from Washington's hand-picked members of the Iraqi Governing Council, reflecting the nation's historical mistrust of former imperial power Turkey, has left the proposed deployment in limbo.

''It's beyond my imagination that American diplomats could have asked the Turks to cast such a vote and make troops available without knowing in advance for absolute certainty'' that Iraq would accept them, veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a likely candidate for secretary of state if Democrats win the 2004 election, said last Monday.

snip>

U.S. officials say a deal is still possible, although one prominent IGC member said earlier this week the matter ''has been closed.''
''The issue is still under consideration. The Iraqi Governing Council never made an official decision,'' one U.S. official insisted.

<snip

IGC says The matter has been closed.
OK, maybe that's not an "official" decision.
This article does make US out to be bully, Turks don't want to tick US off again, and US just won't take no for an answer from IGC.

[Gloria]

1. US also turning cold shoulder on letting Turks take more of a role in

dealing with terrorists in Northern Iraq. They also say US is favoring the Kurds...

From the current World Media Watch....

2//The Turkish Daily News 6 November 2003

http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f5



US COOL TO MORE TURKISH TROOPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ



ANKARA - Washington has signaled it would not welcome more Turkish troops in northern Iraq to eliminate a terrorist presence in the region and said it was taking every measure to contain the threat.



Turkish government officials said earlier this week that Turkey would not hesitate to intervene if a security threat arose from northern Iraq, where some 5,000 terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), also known as KADEK, are based, and warned Turkey could also boost its forces already deployed in the region if needed.



"We have made it clear that the PKK and KADEK are terrorist organizations and that we are undertaking every step to ensure that their activities are constrained, or are not allowed, and that appropriate steps to move against them are taken," Adam Ereli, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said when asked on Tuesday to comment on Turkish statements. "And we continue to consult and work with, closely with, the government of Turkey towards that goal," he went on to say.



Turkish and U.S. officials have discussed ways to eliminate the PKK- KADEK presence, and U.S. authorities have assured Turkey that there would be no place in Iraq for the terrorist group. But there was no sign that there would be a joint crackdown on the group with the Turkish military.



Ereli did not comment on recent accusations by Turkish Ambassador Faruk Logoglu of favoritism for Iraqi Kurds and said the U.S. policy was "to help the Iraqis develop a political system that represents the views and interests of all Iraqis, and that is capable of having the legitimacy and credibility in taking over that country."



(MORE)

[proud patriot]

2. Hey Turkey Give us our money back !

:-)

[Orrin_73]

3. No chance bro

We wont give it back.

[proud patriot]

4. LOL

I know but I have to ask .

[Orrin_73]

5. Actually the US hasn't released the money

at all, from what I read in the newspapers is that the money was tight with a future cooperation. So no cooperation no money until now.

[PATRICK]

6. Another sign of p[ersistent incompetence

When Wolfowitz and other diplomatic tsars screwed up the first attempt to involve turkey in the war so badly NO lessons were learned, no etter apporach was found. Still carrot and stick with very little understanding of the Turks, the Kurds or their relations. They were expected to act as our chess pieces by men incapable of playing checkers.

It might be the Turks vengefully outfoxed the desperate schmoes when they realized they would not have to deploy troops but no matter. TTurkey comes out looking even better for having the deal fall through.

This administration is incapable of real embarassment, real diplomacy, real competence, incapable of reason itself and most of all incapable of change. The only strategy is constant persistence in the notion that the world must eventually bend to supreme power and that implacable persistence.(Like Diebold and others I suppose)

This means no change in foreign policy, no peace, no democracy at home, no bipartisanship or cooperation, no new faces(maybe not even if they agree with the old faces). New wars are inevitable, new economic hardships, a gradual or dramatic turn to the draft, a statification in education, wealth, services and rights based on privilege race and sex, more co-option of the media, less deference to the truth in any form to the public good in any need no matter how dire or simple to alleviate.

To read the news this just looks like a little rain cloud that is partly Turkey's fault.

[E_Zapata]

7. That Chalabi has got to be the most POWERFUL man on earth.......

Cause he sure is running the show. Seems he's the only one who can push the Bush Cabal around.

And ALL of the problems in Iraq ARE Chalabi based. I believe Chalabi is behind all of the RPGs and attacks on US troops and western aid groups and the mosques. Everything.

He waited over 25 years to become KING, and by god, he is ready to run the show.....

And the last thing he wants is to get the Turks in there messing things up in N. Iraq (kurdistan). Smart guy.....knows where the oil is, as well as the land route for trade with the white folks up north.........

[cliss]

8. Which means that the US

has learned nothing from the incident. I would have thought that the Turks saying 'no' to the US the last time around would have sat up and taken notice that there ARE a few countries which can actually stand up to the mighty US and say 'no' every once in a while.

But alas, that was not the case.

This sort of thing really seems over the top to me. It leads me to believe that foreign policy is being run by a small handful of people, maybe as few as 1 or 2. And those two must be Old Rum and Wolfowitz. Really off the deep end.

Patrick: your post echoes my sentiments exactly. I just got done reading a long article about Paul Wolfowitz and his career. It appears that this man, who is now running the show along with his supervisor, has spent a career buried in books. He got his PhD, and spent most of his career doing analyses and vector diagrams, and extrapolating possible outcomes. He's an analyst, in the final recknoning. He has no business planning wars.

What does this man know about human nature? Probably nothing. It seems as though he believes he can push people around like little chess pieces, like you wrote. When they don't cooperate, he can't understand it.