Turkish Parliament Rejects U.S. Plan to Send 62,000 Combat Troops to Turkey for Iraq War

AP ^

[Dirk McQuickly]

I don't think anyone assumed anything. Do you really think the start of this war hinged on Turkey? Heard a special ops' guy on NPR this morning saying that the U.S. military has improved by a factor of TEN since the first Gulf war, and the Iraqi army has regressed by HALF. We are going to be dropping so many bombs on Baghdad and Tikrit in the first 48 hours, there is little doubt in my mind that this war can be one with half of what we have over there now. My guess is that the Iraqi army will turn on the palace within the first 24 hours.

[Dirk McQuickly]

"won", not "one"

[kimosabe31]

"I have to admit part of me is glad this happened, it will save us a ton of money in bailing out Turkey. I felt they were blackmailing us anyway."

Sadly we'll probably give them the money anyway.

[Steve Eisenberg]

So where does it say the Turkish troops are not going into Iraq?

latrans has the right idea here. Besides that, since when does Turkey's military take orders from its parliament? It is always possible from civilian control over the military will arise in Turkey, but I don't know that I would predict it at just this moment.

[Steve Eisenberg]

The Turkish military is pissed off and will replace the civilian government again if this doesn't change and quick...watch and see.

Good analysis. Hopefully everyone who is anyone in Turkey will recognize this and act accordingly.

[Symptom of the Universe]

I think that little red pop up timer went off. Will we be having potatoes or stuffing? Both I hope, I'm hungry. Let's see how these sound; The Republic of Kurdistan, or United Islamic Republic of Kurdistan,or maybe The Peoples Republic of Kurdistan. Either way Turkey's worst nightmare is about to come true. That's too bad, my father works in Turkey, and he's worked in Russia,Singapore,Saudi Arabia,Malaysia,Pakistan,Venezuela,Colombia, and some other places I can't remember. Note to self ; ask dad what he really does for a living. Let's Roll!

[The Duke]

Actually, I think we're forgetting the perfect country in which we should establish our military base - Iraq itself! (Although, I should accompany this with the disclaimer that I disagree with the strategy of going to war against Iraq).

[kimosabe31]

We should've finished Turkey off during WWI.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[eeriegeno]

Colin Powell made a serious mistake late in 2002. He assumed that the folks at the United Nations and the leaders of the middle eastern countries are rational humans.....

[tomahawk]

The Turkish military is a shell of its former self. The Ataturk spirit is gone. They have allowed Islamists bring the Turkish state to ruins. Time is rapidly running out.

[LenS]

tell the Greeks they're welcome to the Turks.

Two problems with that -- first, the Greeks are consistently more anti-American than either the French or the Turks on their worst day -- also the Greeks are friends of the Arabs. Second, the Turks would crush the Greeks if it ever came to actual war.

Hmm, on second thought, maybe we should tell the Greeks to go ahead. A war between two non-allies (and this vote shows that Turkey is about to become a non-ally) of the US weakens them and strengthens us (similar to the Chechen fight).

[LenS]

the perfect country in which we should establish our military base - Iraq itself!

Agreed. Bases in Southern Iraq would be both away from populated areas and in the perfect position to annex Saudi, some Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil fields as well as threaten Syria, Jordan, Iran and Egypt. We could set up Corp-sized NTC's in the Iraqi desert without having to worry about enviro-wackos complaints either.

[what i think]

you don't think we moved all those men and equipment to turkey without some sort of assumpsion that we would be able to offload? i too am confident in this war. i'm saying somone made a serious tactical error and must pay.

[Thud]

ping

[Happy2BMe]

"Turkey's parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning Saturday by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq."

There that word is again > > > TURKEY

[CatoRenasci]

Hmm, on second thought, maybe we should tell the Greeks to go ahead....

That was exactly what I had in mind. Let them exhaust themselves and their arsenals -- and then sell 'em more for cash on the barrelhead.

[Mr Rogers]

Not true. I landed at Incirlik on 4 or 5 Aug 90. We flew out of Incirlik during Desert Shield & Desert Storm.

[henbane]

. . .since when does Turkey's military take orders from its parliament?

Perhaps whatever orders are being issued result from the hue and cry out in the Islamic street.

The article states: Polls show as much as 94 percent of the Muslim-dominated Turkish public opposes a war with Iraq.

Turkey is simply not the place for staging the northern sector of this war--it's teeming with Islamist factions--and the Kurds in Northen Iraq are even worse.

Here's a Turkish politician's comment as this vote was cast:

"At the end of this business we'll see that America has eaten the toffee apple and left Turkey the stick," Onder Sav of the opposition Republican People's Party told parliament.

He warned that victory would be much easier than running post-war Iraq. "You can do a lot with bayonets but you can't sit on them... Don't let them reach out to seize the integrity and natural riches of a neighbor and a Muslim country."

Kurdistan Observer

And here's the kind of Kurdish characters running around up in northern Ira:

The leader of a Kurdish extremist group with suspected ties to al-Qaida is willing to talk to U.S. investigators, his lawyer said in a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Norway.

. . . . Ahmad is the head of Ansar al-Islam, or Supporters of Islam, an anti-American group of several hundred fighters based in Kurdish areas in northern Iraq.

Washington claims Ahmad has links to Osama bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but says it has no proof. The group's fighters are also believed to have trained with al-Qaida and U.S. officials suspect it of helping hide al-Qaida members fleeing Afghanistan.

Kurdistan Observer

To assume this territory would be an appropriate area for staging our troops and equipment would be a lethal mistake.

Our troopers must move into some of the other less murderous areas mentioned in replies upthread.