Turkey signals it's prepared to enter Iraq

[Judi Lynn]

Turkey signals it's prepared to enter Iraq
By LOUIS MEIXLER, Associated Press Writer
24 minutes ago

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there — a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States

Turkey is facing increasing domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police and guards were killed fighting the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey in the past week.

"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi Tashan, director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Bilkent University in Ankara. "On the one hand, they don't want things to break down with the United States. On the other hand, the public is crying for action."

Diplomats and experts cautioned the increasingly aggressive Turkish statements were likely aimed at calming public anger and pressing the U.S. and Iraq to act against the Turkish Kurdish guerrillas. But they also said Turkish politicians and military officers could act if nothing is done.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060718/ap_on_re_as/turkey_kurds

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Thae Rapture Indexers will love that

[Julius Civitatus]

20. The "Rapture Ready" lunatics are going bonkers over this

Truly disturbed individuals, if you ask me.

They are literally cheering at every twist of this world crisis.

[panzerfaust]

35. Why should they not ??

1) Bush/Haliburton does, as it puts more fear in Americans, and more dollars in their pockets.

2) For some Believers each fresh disaster is a step closer to the Second Coming of Christ.

Of course, others are still waiting for the First Coming of the Mashiach

שלום
Shalom

[gatorboy]

37. You can't win with those people. They've made clear they don't want peace.

Because after all, trying to calm things down would mean that can't take their trip into the sky...

[katty]

66. o yea, they are enjoying all of this chaos and death

[stop the bleeding]

2. As the ME burns our leaders

are giving massages and enjoying roasted rented pig.

[katinmn]

68. Saving a peice of cloth

Makes me want to go and burn a flag just for spite.

[Poll_Blind]

3. Damn, I don't like the sound of that. n/t

PB

[struggle4progress]

44. Turkey eyes Iraqi oil fields in midst of war rumbling (Jan 2003)

January 8 2003

Turkey, one of Washington's most important allies against Saddam Hussein, claims that it may have a historical stake in Iraq's northern oil fields.

Yasar Yakis, Turkey's Foreign Minister, is examining early 20th-century treaties to see if his country has a claim to the vast oil fields of the Mosul and Kirkuk provinces, which the Turks ruled during Ottoman times.

In comments published Monday in the Hurriyet newspaper, Mr Yakis said: "If we do have such rights, we have to explain this to the international community and our partners in order to secure those rights." ...

"He is revealing Turkey's true intentions, they are playing a dangerous game," said one senior Arab diplomat.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/07/1041566412178.html

[struggle4progress]

45. Turkey threatens to send in forces (April 2003)

By Atul Aneja

AS SAYLIYAH (Qatar) APRIL 11. ... ethnic Kurds poured by the hundreds into the northern Iraqi oil capital of Kirkuk on Thursday ... Turkey indicated that it was prepared to send forces of its own which had already been deployed along Turkish-Iraqi border into Kurdish strongholds ... Turkey is agitated because it fears that by controlling Kirkuk and its oil fields, the Kurds would acquire the resources to create an independent Kurdish state or Kurdistan. That, in turn, would generate secessionist pressures inside Turkey, which has a Kurdish population of around 15 million residing along its border with northern Iraq. In other words, Turkey apprehends that it could lose part of its territory dominated by Kurds to an independent Kurdistan that is sustained by the oilfields of Kirkuk and Mosul ... http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/04/12/stories/2003041204401400.htm

[struggle4progress]

46. .. Some Turkish Soldiers .. Detained by US .. Freed (July 2003)

Turkey's PM: Some Turkish Soldiers Allegedly Detained by US in Iraq Have Been Freed

Amberin Zaman
Ankara
05 Jul 2003, 15:29 UTC

Turkey's prime minister says some of the 11 Turkish soldiers Ankara says U.S. troops detained in northern Iraq have been freed.

Details remain sketchy of the raid Turkish authorities say was carried out Friday by U.S. troops against Turkish special forces based in the province of Sulaiymaniyah, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

U.S. officials in Ankara said they were unaware of the incident.

Media reports in the country said some 100 U.S. troops moved against the Turkish special forces to prevent them from carrying out an attack against a Kurdish regional governor. But Turkish officials denied such an attack had been planned ...

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/07/iraq-030705-voa02.htm




http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/07/iraq-030705-voa02.htm

[struggle4progress]

47. Turkey to Deploy Troops in Defiance ... (October 2003)

Published on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 by Agence France Presse
Turkey to Deploy Troops in Defiance of New Iraqi Leaders, Turmoil Deepens

Ankara moved on to a collision course with the interim leadership in Baghdad after deciding to send troops to its war-torn neighbor as the turmoil deepens in Iraq.

The US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council strongly condemned Turkey's plan to send thousands of troops across the border into Iraq, whose ethnic Kurdish population is particularly alarmed at the prospect ...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1008-01.htm

[krispos42]

65. Shit. The balloon's gone up

It's now spiraling out of control. Everybody's eyeing the oil in the MidEast, and they see the US Army bogged down.

Of course we still have a little thing called the Navy and Air Force that can devestate anything they want, and have been largely unaffected by the war, but if all the MidEasterners are counting are boots on the ground then they may do something stupid and greedy.

God damn Bush for ignoring these issues until they grow up into huge crises!!!!! And what is his excuse gonna be?

"I don't think anybody could have anticipated the..."

What is it gonna be? The Turkish invasion of Kurdistan? The Iranian invasion of Kurdistan to stop the flood of refugee Kurds into Iran? The Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon? Some unknown party nuking Damascus? North Korea invading South Korea? North Korea nuking Tokyo and putting the planet in a depression the depths of which we have never seen before? A North Korean submarine sneaking into Long Beach Harbor, surfacing, and detonating a hydrogen bomb?

What a load of shit.

Levies breaching? Hurricane Pam disaster scenario a year or two before Katrina. During his administration and after 9/11, it must be noted.

Planes flying into buildings? At the 2001 G-8 summit Bush had to be moved because of that exact threat.

The Iraqi insurgency? SecDef Dick Cheney back in 1991 recommended against occupying Iraq after the Gulf War exactly because of fears of a militant, widespread, and prolong insurgency. He put it in a letter!!!! Randi Rhodes found it and read it on the air in its entirety!!!!

[Threedifferentones]

72. Actually I believe it was a speech.

[Roland99]

4. More flowers and kisses and yet another corner turned!

:woohoo:

[Avalux]

5. Not good, not good at all.

I remember reading that Turkey's involvement in the north would really muck up what is already a gigantic mess. Ugh. x(

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. They are probably thinking "Hey wait a minute, if......

Israel can bomb the crap out of Lebanon over a couple of captured soldiers with the U.S. blessing then, why can't we bomb the crap out of the Kurds?"

[Celefin]

13. And who is going to stop them?

*kurdish representative in northern Iraq calling UN*

*automatic answer loop*

'sorry, the world is currently busy being helpless about Israel/Lebanon/Hezbollah/Iran/Syria. We will get back to you at the earliest opportunity and appreciate your call. Please consider the turkish fighter aircraft heading toward you as a sign of our deepfelt gratitude for your ongoing interest in our help in matters of diplomacy. Have a nice day.'

[uppityperson]

19. exactly

Good point, while many are watching Israel, now would be a good time to do something.

[Celefin]

30. This just might be the catalyst...

...that is needed in the region for an extremely
'exothermic' reaction.

When everything goes up in flames, no one will be responsible.
As always.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. *smiles a little*

[ninkasi]

36. That was good...

Welcome to DU...:hi:

[Celefin]

58. Thank You!

This really means a lot. ;)
Great place to hang around.

[Threedifferentones]

73. There is no reason.

Way to go America.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. Of all the tragedies, large and small, of the U.S. armed aggression

against Iraq, this would have to rank right up there. For one thing, it was eminently predictable. No way is Turkey going to stand for an autonomous Kurdistan on its south-eastern flank. If that means Turkey has to move militarily against the Kurds in northern Iraq and their putative allies (US!), so be it. Irony is that Turkey, as a member of NATO, is also a putative ally of the U.S., but that won't stop them from shutting down an autonomous Kurdistan. And why should it? We've clearly been revealed as the "mouse that roared" in the region.

You'd think BFEE would have gotten the message when Turkey refused use of its territory for a northern prong to the invasion.

[donkeyotay]

63. No one could have imagined. Who could have seen this coming?

Like an 800-mile across hurricane, this is a complete surprise. Don't worry Turkey; we'll send in Condi when she's done in Israel.

PS. Memo to US citizens: YOU'RE BROKE. Stop imagining that you can sit on your sofas drinking beer and decide who should be bombed and/or tortured next. You are morally and economically bankrupt. Might want to rethink staying the course with the GOP.

[izzie]

8. Just great. We know the Kurds will love that.

Bush seems to have his way. The whole Middle East will be in flames soon.

[lumpy]

11. I don't think the Kurds love anyone.

x

[Karenina]

43. The Kurds' history is a litany of victimization.

I just got out of a cab driven an owned by a German-born Kurd. He was so SHOCKED and pleased when he realized how much I already knew, he spoke freely. The Kurds will NEVER give up their struggle for a homeland. NEVER. Bring it on.

[Orrin_73]

76. There was never a kurdish nation

If they want one they can get it in Iran or Iraq but not from Turkey. They are always free to move over there.

[alfredo]

42. Create chaos, then when they reduce their countries to

rubble, come in and take over.

[maxrandb]

9. Who the "eff" kicked this hornet's nest?

Oh....Nevermind.

[CanonRay]

10. Just what we need...

that's about the only semi-calm province in Iraq. I'm sure we can stop the Kurdish guerillas, we have done such a good job on the insurgency!

[Supersedeas]

12. Dr. Condi sure has been keeping tabs, no? Fresh cup of incompetence

anyone?

[fishwax]

51. has their ever been an SOS so worthy of that abbreviation?

Seriously, things sure have gone from bad to a whole hell of a lot worse in the short amount of time she's been on the job.

Makes you wonder what the first administration would have been like if colin powell hadn't been on board. I mean, I lost plenty of respect for him after the march to the u.n., but the alternative is clearly worse.

[johncoby2]

14. Turkey has a right to protect themselves

Sound familiar?

[Endangered Specie]

39. yeah, didnt they say the same thing in 1915?

[donkeyotay]

64. That must come as quite a relief to Turkey. The Decider has decided

and he ruled in their favor has he parts the line. Palestinians, Sunnis, Lebanese, Iranians, Syrians to one side, Israel, Turkey and ??? to the other.

Praise be. I heard he might even let the Supreme Court on the Congress do something so long as he agrees. Talk about Pink TuTu Democrats. What could you even begin to call the rubber stamp Republicans that suits them?

And the television propaganda is has bad as it was leading into the Iraq War. They let him lie and lie and lie some more. For example, he bragged about the deficit being ONLY $297 BILLION, but if you add in the $177 BILLION of your social security that he stole this year alone, the deficit that the Bankruptor in Chief was bragging about was $473 BILLION. Really. We have to call off this Crusade or we'll be living off the garbage heaps.

[IndianaGreen]

15. Turkey can use Israel's rationale for war and bomb Baghdad

and the world will be a step closer to reliving the Great War of 1914.

[KoKo]

17. Yep....following the Bush example anything goes these days.

And, the Chimp still says "wait and see...I will be right about Iraq." Ummmhmmm......delusionary to the end as the world starts to burn from bombs and environmental degradation.

[6th Borough]

18. I don't think you will fond many Kurds in Baghdad...Iran OTOH...

has a significant Kurdish population which, for the most part, resides adjacent to The Kurdish regions in N. Iraq and Eastern Turkey.

[cliss]

16. NOT good....

Turkey does NOT want to see the Kurds align themselves in Iraq. This is a powder keg, ready to blow. There is a large group of Kurds in northern Iraq. They want to be re-united with their brothers in Turkey (several million, if I remember correctly).

Of course, northern Iraq is a Shangri-La of oil...an unbelievable amount, really close to the surface.

If anything happens, this will also affect Iran. There are several thousand Kurds in that country.

So this could have a domino effect.

Stupid Bush. He would NEVER have figured this out....ever.:smoke:

[IndianaGreen]

21. Kurds are shit out of luck, and a lot of it is from their own doing!

There are Kurds in Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. None of those countries, particularly the Shia in Iraq and Iran, will allow the Kurds to carved out their countries for a Kurdish state. The Kurds in Iraq have behaved badly with the Shia and Turkmen that live in Northern Iraq. They will find no allies among them!

[leftchick]

26. they are always shit out of luck

this is not looking good. Damn the whole world has turned upside down since bush had his war on.

[bennywhale]

22. FREE THE KURDS. If only Turkey

would let them have certain letters like 'K' in their chioldrens names it would all be ok.

Fact is the kurds are one of the most oppressed minority on earth and the turks can fuck off if they think they can realise their imperialist ambitions (particularly if they clash with US imperialist ambitions)

Seriously though the Kurds are treated like shit, i'd fight if i were a kurd

[underpants]

23. Uh.. was this unexpected? Didn't we warn about this????

It isn't unexpected and we* did.

This is the logical step for Turkey. Gee no wonder they didn't let US troops pass through their country and set up bases right across their border.

Gee funny how this all worked out huh?

* the anti-war movement.

[redqueen]

29. yup... hilarious

it's playing out just as the anti-war movement said it would... and 180 degrees opposite of how the neo-con warmongers said it would

[Duppers]

31. quite true, even Poppy Bush

Poppy bush listed this as one of his reasons for not marching into Baghdad.
He must be so proud of junior - NOT.

[saigon68]

54. He is proud of the money Though

His offspring however is a Chimpanzee

[Botany]

24. Great just dandy ..... the neo cons and the media told us "Good Idea."

PNAC 2003 ..... Bush's Iraqi war will help the region .... Wrong Again
?
Remember all that crap about peace, freedom and democracy spreading throughout the mid east
after the other countries and peoples got to see the results of "Operation Iraqi Freedom?"

And yet Condi goes on the news shows and says it is grotesque to say that "we have
caused the mid east to become less stable."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

2003 Neocon talking points from PNAC.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/global-032303.htm

<But change also brings opportunity. The president’s decision to remove Hussein from power and his work to create a viable, democratic Iraq has already led to a number of positive steps in the region. In Iran, moderates, emboldened by the possibility of a democratic Iraq, are again pushing to reform that cleric-dominated state. In Saudi Arabia, the homeland of 15 of the 19 terrorists who carried out the attacks on the United States, the royal family has for the first time begun serious deliberations with reformers on how to transform and democratize the country. In the Palestinian territories, Yasser Arafat reluctantly agreed to give up much of his day-to-day control over the Palestinian Authority to a new prime minister. And in Egypt, the government has just released its most vocal human-rights advocate.

None of these steps amounts to a revolution in the region. Nor do they mean that positive political transformation throughout the Islamic world will happen easily or without fits, starts and dead ends. However, the early signs suggest that the president is right to believe that the instinct for liberty is not missing from Middle East genes.>

[eagler]

25. The US must understand that they have as much right as

Israel to defend itself.

[ShortnFiery]

28. In BushWorld of today merely "Might Makes Right"

They don't need your stinkin' UN Resolutions or International Law to Protect the AmeriKKKan People. :puke:

[Tin Man]

27. Freedom .....errrr..... Turkey is on the march!

The magic touch of George "King Midas" Bush strikes again - everything he touches turns to shit.

[marmar]

32. Lovely...

The Iraq occupation is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it? :hurts:

[many a good man]

33. Its another consequence of the Republicans' national security failures

Its time for a reappraisal of national security strategies by the voters.

As we weaken our rivals strengthen relatively. Iraq is the greatest strategic blunder in our nation's history and has done great damage to our national interests. The Republicans' policy of disproportionate force, like Israel's, is an ongoing war crime that leads to disaster time and time again.

Its way past time we kill the meme that Dems are weak on defense.

[Autonomy]

34. Ah, here it comes. Right on schedule.

I've been waiting for this since 2002. It was inevitable with the invasion of Iraq. Inevitable.

[nealmhughes]

38. I agree totally -- the "real" actors will be India and Turkey, not Iran,

Syria or the Arabian states.

Turkey because of the strong element of autonomy of the Kurdish semi-state in Iraq with the most relatively stable "normal" life in the state of Iraq and sitting on top of oil; India because of Pakistani playing footsie with the Taliban, causing a resurgance of more militant agression towards their claims on Kashmir and Jammu, which India is resisting whole heartedly.

Consider the nationalism in Austria-Hungarian subjected peoples in southeastern Europe in 1918: Austria began with the annexation of the last vestiges of Ottoman rule in Europe (Bosnia), leading to pan-Slavic nationalistic response...meanwhile Croatia was becoming anti-Austrian and Serbia was the fuel for all the terrorism in the area, i.e., Bosnian and IMRO (Macedonian nationalists in exile in Serbia).

Then we throw in Slavic nationalism in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia against the Austrians and Hungarians, the Trnasylvanians against the Romanian nationals in Hungary, leading to the alliance system....

Germany wanting its place in the sun and becoming the ally of Austria against France and Britain (after France has been rift of Alsace and Lorraine in 1871) and Germany had defeated Austria just before that! Germany and the UK at war? They were effectively sister states! George V and Wilhelm II were first cousins! The Czarina was also their first cousin as was the Crown Princess of Romania.
They all spoke English and German as their first languages equally fluently...

Looks like nationalism and religion are once trumping common sense in the Middle East.

Not a one of these leaders had the moral authority to prevent the first WW. They were all weaklings who were complacent and still had weird ideas of "glorious" war -- even though the Crimean War had proven that wrong, with the US Civil War seconding it. Throw in VERY advanced weapon systems, comm systems and transport by 1914... and voila...

My advice: be Sweden and Switzerland.

Go on austerity oil conservation programs if necessary, but for goodness sakes, don't let this be a repeat of 1914 for the US.

[rastafan]

41. Iran and "Second 9/11": Cheney's "Contingency Plan"

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060222&articleId=2032

"Second 9/11": Cheney's "Contingency Plan"

While the "threat" of Iran's alleged WMD is slated for debate at the UN Security Council, Vice President Dick Cheney is reported to have instructed USSTRATCOM to draw up a contingency plan "to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States". This "contingency plan" to attack Iran uses the pretext of a "Second 9/11" which has not yet happened, to prepare for a major military operation against Iran.

The contingency plan, which is characterized by a military build up in anticipation of possible aerial strikes against Iran, is in a "state of readiness".

What is diabolical is that the justification to wage war on Iran rests on Iran's involvement in a terrorist attack on America, which has not yet occurred:

The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. (Philip Giraldi, Attack on Iran: Pre-emptive Nuclear War , The American Conservative, 2 August 2005)

Are we to understand that US military planners are waiting in limbo for a Second 9/11, to launch a military operation directed against Iran, which is currently in a "state of readiness"?

Cheney's proposed "contingency plan" does not focus on preventing a Second 9/11. The Cheney plan is predicated on the presumption that Iran would be behind a Second 9/11 and that punitive bombings would immediately be activated, prior to the conduct of an investigation, much in the same way as the attacks on Afghanistan in October 2001, allegedly in retribution for the role of the Taliban government in support of the 9/11 terrorists. It is worth noting that the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan had been planned well in advance of 9/11. As Michael Keefer points out in an incisive review article:

"At a deeper level, it implies that “9/11-type terrorist attacks” are recognized in Cheney’s office and the Pentagon as appropriate means of legitimizing wars of aggression against any country selected for that treatment by the regime and its corporate propaganda-amplification system.... (Keefer, February 2006 )

(continued)

[megatherium]

74. That's creepy. What is their source for this claim? nt

[Autonomy]

50. The WWI analogy was foremost on my mind

when I still bothered arguing with Iraq war supporters. It was this very experience that convinced me that facts are of no use whatsoever in an argument. Republicans are sooooo far ahead of us when it comes to this understanding of typical human psychological needs. It's quite sad.

[Endangered Specie]

40. hopefully they won't slaughter a bunch of people this time around

[alfredo]

52. Sure glad the Armenians all moved to California.

Smart move.

[Stardust]

48. Yay! Now we can nuke Turkey, too!!!

[Renew Deal]

71. What makes you think we will oppose Turkey?

They are a NATO member.

[Canuckistanian]

49. Yes, let's add Turkey to the mix!

Perfect! Perhaps they can even invade Iran while they're at it! Lots of Kurds there, too!

Looks like this "freedom" thing is really taking off.

Thanks, Chimpy!

[Trajan]

53. Let's make this perfectly clear ....

This is an administration out of control ... they have loosed the tiger of war, and have no means of reining it in now ....

Our military is stretched .... it cannot reform on the northern border in sufficient strength to resist, at least in the short term, a penetrating incursion by the Turks .... It furthermore cannot strike east and attack Iran, for the same reason ...

That reason ? .... the government of Iraq would fall in weeks against a sectarian onslaught which will overwhelm underpowered, independant Iraqi forces .... The whole purpose of invading Iraq would be lost, and a second or third objective, IE blunting the effect of a Turkish incursion, or striking at the heart of Iran, is far less likely to be successful ....

Hence : ALL can be lost in this gambit ....

Now .. Let's calculate what might happen if Israel joins the fray ....

Egads .... Syria and Egypt jumping in on Israel as Iran sends its troops into Iraq and strikes at the weakened Iraqi government, which is stranded as US forces create a vacuum in Baghdad, thrusting into Turkey .... Iran vies for control of the Strait of Hormuz, knocking out oil tankers with its latest array of anti-ship arms .... The US forces ever thinning as they try to maintain control of Iraq against Iran, stop Turkey from assuming ownership of the north, all while watching hell break loose as Syria invades Israel from the North, and Egypt from the south .... But Israel is fighting Lebanon .... right ? .... They have formed their strategy on busting into that little country, to punish it .... they would have to re-form into THREE fronts, and lose sight of their objectives in South Lebanon ....

Hell, even poor wittle Jordan may get in a few punches, before Israel has enough, and lets loose a nuclear fusillade against Damascus, Tehran, Cairo, Ankara ...

Millions immediately die ..... Turks ..... Irani ... Iraqi ... Arab ... Jew ... Christian .... Muslim .... millions more will die as the poison sinks into the earth, and makes the bile of hatred real for millenae ....

Anyone who dimisses the possibility of such a sequence of events doest understand the heated passions that rule action in the middle east ....

Poor George, Dickie Boy, Rumsfeld and Condi will be standing in a smoking ruin, searching for a bunker to bust ....

Without success ....

And they wanted to play with fire .....

To think some people like war ...

[Norrin Radd]

55. Destabilizing the Middle East is one of the goals of Dumbya's

puppetmasters.

[underpants]

56. Welcome to DU- repeat after me

"Iraq as the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia as the strategic pivot Egypt as the prize."

The Men From JINSA and CSP
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020902/vest

posted August 15, 2002 (September 2, 2002 issue)
Jason Vest


On no issue is the JINSA/CSP hard line more evident than in its relentless campaign for war--not just with Iraq, but "total war," as Michael Ledeen, one of the most influential JINSAns in Washington, put it last year. For this crew, "regime change" by any means necessary in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority is an urgent imperative. Anyone who dissents--be it Colin Powell's State Department, the CIA or career military officers--is committing heresy against articles of faith that effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East--a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action.

For example, the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board--chaired by JINSA/CSP adviser and former Reagan Administration Defense Department official Richard Perle, and stacked with advisers from both groups--recently made news by listening to a briefing that cast Saudi Arabia as an enemy to be brought to heel through a number of potential mechanisms, many of which mirror JINSA's recommendations, and which reflect the JINSA/CSP crowd's preoccupation with Egypt. (The final slide of the Defense Policy Board presentation proposed that "Grand Strategy for the Middle East" should concentrate on "Iraq as the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia as the strategic pivot Egypt as the prize.") Ledeen has been leading the charge for regime change in Iran, while old comrades like Andrew Marshall and Harold Rhode in the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment actively tinker with ways to re-engineer both the Iranian and Saudi governments. JINSA is also cheering the US military on as it tries to secure basing rights in the strategic Red Sea country of Eritrea, happily failing to mention that the once-promising secular regime of President Isaiais Afewerki continues to slide into the kind of repressive authoritarianism practiced by the "axis of evil" and its adjuncts.

[mkb]

57. Complex Situations Need Understanding

     I generally defer to others on the complesities of
foreign affairs, but it is a good idea almost always for
people to pay attention and understand as best as possible
what is happening in the world and to make sense of it.
     Important to remember is that if you are trying to do
good in the world, there are others doing that as well, and
that in many ways, they can help you and you can help them. 
It is'nt something that works easily but there are many who
are trying to make the world a better place.  You must realize
that even if you don't directly know them or understand
everything.
     There is some good iformation out there to help you
understand the situation more thoroughly and help out.  I have
read Stan Goff's website where some good analysis regarding
Turkey and Iraq can be found.  Just With anything else, you
must think critically.
     The sufferings of others is something that should make us
realize the problems that are out there and must be corrected.
 Being informed; staying aware of things, and making the best
decisions about making the best world possible I hope will be
course people take in life.  Those who endure difficulty
around the world and at home are dependent on us to contribute
what we can.

[McCamy Taylor]

59. Kurds=Hezbollah, Turkey=Israel, Iraq=Lebanon, US=Iran Easy math

Too bad Dumbya cant add.

How many other countries in the world have terrorist problems across the border that they want to take care of? India could probably use this opportunity to go get some and not look like a bad guy (hey, Israel and Turkey are both doing it). China always has people it wants to crack down on. Same for Russia.

This could turn into one big bully fest.

[bemildred]

60. Not bad.

It took me a minute to see the US == Iran connection, but it works.

[newspeak]

61. it looks like the PNAC plan is going according to plan

who lit the fuse to this FUBAR? I'd say the one's squatting in our house!!!! My children are not going to give up their lives for an egocentric, sociopathic, delusional bunch of miscreants. Repeat after me "THOSE IN POWER CARE NOTHING ABOUT YOU, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR NEIGHBORS OR THOSE HALF WAY AROUND THE WORLD!!! All they do care about is themselves and their greedy, war profiteering base!!!! They can spoon feed the fundies with the rapture and Armageddon, but we all know what they really want!!! FASCISM 101, anyone?

[snappyturtle]

62. Amen. nt

[Alameda]

67. Turkey signals it's prepared to enter Iraq

Does anyone here realize the PKK have been launching attacks into Turkey in increased number and intensity in the last year? Does anyone here know what the PKK is demanding?...or who they are? If Turkey went into Iraq, it would be to stop the attacks. Take a look at various maps of "Kurdistan"



http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/geography/maps/map-03.html

a map of Turkey...


Note: the headwaters of the Euphrates and the Tigress rivers = water supply....lake Van (which is also claimed by some Armenian factions as well.

This is NOT about oil. There is a large Turkish minority in northern Iraq, in particular in Tal Afar.

PKK 'behind' Turkey resort bomb
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4690181.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4447775.stm

Kurds move to end Turkish truce
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3760285.stm

http://news.findlaw.com/ap/p/56/07-17-2006/596e0026dfd9032b.html

[Dead_Parrot]

69. Dammit...

Every time I see this headline, all I can think of is last year's Thanksgiving photo-op.

Is there a psychiatrist in the house?

[Odin2005]

70. This is spiraling out of control.

I'm being remnded of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914... :scared:

[DemReadingDU]

75. Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, next Turkey

or Iran, or Syria

The Middle East is a mess