[lbo-talk] Big Victory for Bush?: Turkey Votes to Send Troops

[mike larkin]

--- boddhisatva <boddhisatva at netzero.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>    When Turkey denied the Bush requests before the
> war it was an enormous
> defeat for Bush but that does not mean this is a
> victory for Bush.  I think
> this is a much greater victory for the Turks. 
> First, remember that the
> Turks were more than eager to send troops into Iraq.
>  They were so eager
> that they even threatened to send troops into the
> American combat space
> without American permission.  The Turks are as
> obsessed with the Kurds as
> the Serbs are with the Kosovo Albanians.  Imagine if
> Milosovich had been
> asked to send troops into Albania. The Turks
> absolutely want a dog in the
> fight when it comes to deciding how much autonomy
> Iraqi regions and states
> will have - which is exactly what is being decided
> now.  I think the timing
> is no coincidence.
> 
>   Second, the bribes will be huge.  We will end up
> paying the Turkish
> military billions for the privilege of having them
> do exactly what they
> wanted to do in the first place.  Hell, the Turks
> have been invading Iraqi
> territory on their own for years.  Corruption is a
> corollary issue.  With
> the border to Syria and Jordan being tightly
> controlled, the Turkish border
> is naturally the door through which contraband is
> flowing.  There have
> already been reports of large amounts of stolen
> Iraqi military equipment
> near the Turkish border.
> 
>    Read David Brooks today and note the objections
> of the captive Iraqi
> governing council.  Remember that the Turkish
> military has a constructive
> relationship with the Israeli Defense Forces. 
> Although there is an accepted
> Turkish and Turkmen minority in Iraq, it's safe to
> say that Turks and Arabs
> don't exactly see eye-to-eye.  I suspect that many
> Iraqis would welcome
> Iranians before they would welcome Turks.

 
But, again, the only thing that matters from Bush's
point of view is that pressure be taken off the Army
and Guard reserves, thus reducing the political heat
from their families and the military. Turkish troops
go a long way towards accomplishing this goal. Once
the "reserves" issue is settled, Iraq is effectively
off the table as a political issue.

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