[Diddle E. Squat]

I'm not sure some type of public 'explanation' would be very productive right now. May be better to just lay low, don't escalate things in Iraq, and let some of this blow over. Doesn't change what has happened, but talking about it won't change many minds right now. Decision made, now it will have to be lived with.

But that is just my opinion, from an armchair, with not a lot of knowledge of the region.

[a_Turk]

The press portrayed Turkey first as a beggar/blackmailer, and now as a villain ready to grab land.

The truth is that, even thought the Turkish government had made a real mess of things, the initial discussions concerned Turkey's wish of a unified Irak with a unified military and one in which all ethnic groups are considered equal.

And the current interest of Turkey in northern Irak has more to do with terror prevention and terrorist tracking than anything else.

But would an interview or two have an impact on the US public after centuries of bad press and this latest blunder? I would not be too optimistic..