[a_Turk]

>> WE Americans are still stunned by the failure of your country's government to allow our soldiers to use Turkey as a northern base.

So am I, stunned. There were a variety of considerations.

The minority party in Parliament saw the anti-populist position of the ruling party as an opportunity to wrest votes.

The reasons 27% of the parliamentarians of the ruling party did not toe the party line were varied. All who defied the party line were first and foremost worried about their votes. Not being able to get the US to sign the agreement reached, photo reports of militias of terror supporting leaders in northern Irak getting armed by the US, and a US DoS SNAFU all contributed to the decision of those 27%.

Too bad. This was going to be our nations' chance to get much closer.. Good luck.

[irish guard]

>>>>>Not being able to get the US to sign the agreement reached, photo reports of militias of terror supporting leaders in northern Irak getting armed by the US, and a US DoS SNAFU all contributed to the decision of those 27%. <<<<
WEll there may truly have been a DoS snafu, but I guess I don't care. When we Americans begin to hear Turks complain once the fighting starts, we will have little sympathy. Over the years and recently, I think the U.S. has been very good to Turkey. We certainly held up our end of the NATO bargain and it seemed like we were being held for ransom on the cost of deploying our troops. You surely seemed to be concerned about potential Iraqi attrocities against your country and these are the thanks we get for supporting Turkey??? Personally, I have no animosity toward your country, but I also don't really care what happens as a consequence of your Parliament's failure to vote in favor. Sorry to have to state it that way.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"This was going to be our nations' chance to get much closer"

Close with Turkey seems an impossible task. I lived there in the early 70's and some loved us, but most wanted to kill us. The best thing for the US would be for us to come home from around the world and let the nations of the world defend themselves from one another. I couldn't give a damn the outcome. Screw with the US, and we should simply nuke your ass off the planet. Not one US soldier should die if a nuke can do the job permanently.

I'm tired of the UN patti-cake going on.