> > The scenario of turning Iraq into three
>> "Afghanistans" is probably
>> the only one that would allow Bush to scale back the
>> Iraqi operation
>> and diminish reports of US casualties quickly, as
>> Max Sawicky and
>> Martin van Creveld suggest. The scenario is not a
>> very attractive
>> one for Bush, however, as the Arab masses would
>> definitely interpret
>> any scaling back of the US occupation as a US
>> defeat.
>>
> > Yoshie
>
>But of course, they don't really care what the Arab masses think.
>Their only concern is what the U.S. public and the U.S. media think.
>Both are easily bamboozled.
Iraq, unfortunately, is far more strategically important than Lebanon (1983) and Somalia (1993). Besides, since Somalia, the stakes have been raised. The situation is explosive -- literally and figuratively:
***** New York Times November 20, 2003
Explosions in Istanbul Destroy British Consulate and Bank; At Least 27 Killed, 400 Injured By SEBNEM ARSU and CHRISTINE HAUSER
ISTANBUL, Nov. 20 - Two explosions rocked Istanbul today, one at the British consulate and the other at the British international bank HSBC, killing 27 people and wounding more than 400, Turkish government officials said.
International news agencies and the Turkish private television station NTV reported that the British Consul General, Roger Short, was among those killed in the attack. The reports quoted the religious affairs official of the consulate, Ian Sherwood.
"In today's attacks, there were again trucks loaded with explosives and it's highly likely that both were suicide attacks," the Turkish foreign minister, Abdulkadir Aksu, said. He said two of those killed were policemen. The Istanbul governor's office said the death toll was 27, but rescue workers said more victims could be buried in the rubble.
The attacks came less than a week after suicide bomb blasts at two Jewish synagogues in the city; 25 people were killed in those attacks, including the bombers. . . .
The selection of British targets coincided with the visit to Britain this week by President Bush. At a joint news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair this morning in London, Mr. Bush said that terrorists hoped to intimidate and demoralize free nations, but "they are not going to succeed." He said Britain, the United States and other allies were "united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil wherever it is found."
Mr. Blair, a steadfast ally of the United States in the war in Iraq and the fight against terrorism, said: "Once again, we're reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to innocent people everywhere and to our way of life. "Once again, we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly.". . .
"We will finish the job we have begun," Mr. Bush said, referring to Iraq. Mr. Blair, linking the response to the attacks in Turkey to strikes in Iraq and elsewhere, said: "Our response is not to flinch, give way or concede one inch."
Sebnem Arsu reported for this article from Istanbul and Christine Hauser from New York.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/international/20CND-TURKEY.html> *****