Bush I promised aid to Turkey in light of the grievous results of this economic warfare, but no details were agreed upon. Ultimately Turkey was allowed to sell more towels to the USA. This could not realistically be expected to offset the economic hardship caused by increased terrorism, masses of starving refugees, and the lack of Iraqi trade. Turks interpreted this as a broken deal.
This time around, with the attack on Iraq becoming more and more imminent, Turkey decided that she would send several tens of thousands of soldiers into Northern Iraq in order to ensure that there would be no repeat of what happened after the last war against Iraq, in terms of both economic and military security.
A proposed $8.5 billion loan was tied to a condition that Turkish troops not enter Northern Iraq due to, in all seriousness, congressional anxiety over "possible instability in the region due to a Turkish army operation." Turks found Congressional notions of stability interesting indeed, especially since it was felt in US Congressional circles that Turkish military action would not solve the terrorist organization Kurdish Workers Party - Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (PKK-KADEK) problem. There was a US government consensus that felt that new methods were needed against KADEK.
To make a long story short, Turks were willing to spend blood and treasure on a major invasion of Northern Iraq, thus destroying for once and for all a Communist insurgency and in the process form a strategic anvil to the US hammer.
Thus, I do not interpret these actions as being stabbed in the back by the wily, unscrupulous, and untrustworthy Turk. Instead, I see a lot of incompetent US geo-political theorizing and experimentation in the Bush administration based on the same sort of adolescent college dorm bull session world view which characterized the Kennedy and Johnson admnistrations during the Vietnam War, and which also characterized US policy during the Clinton administration.
Once again, as in Vietnam, we are proving our expert ability to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory. Once again, countries fighting for their lives against Communism and worse are finding their hands tied by US policies which can have only one outcome: victory for the guerillas, and, like in South Vietnam, the victims are being blamed for the consequences.
Keeping in mind that no one knew how the war was going to go, if it would be a bloodbath, if the Iraqis would give stiff resistance, or collapse quickly, we wanted two things:
We wanted a northern front, and we wanted muslim troops to help with the occupation afterward.
Turkey was interested in occupying Kirkuk, but we wanted them in Tikrit. We wanted them to help in the combat against the Iraqi army in an advance on Baghdad, but they specifically did not want to take part in combat operations outside of Kurdistan.
So there was a real disconnect between what we hoped to get from them, and what they were willing to offer. That being the case, since the Iraqis collapsed even without a northern front fairly quickly, I think it has turned out better for everyone that the Turks stayed out of it. We still could have used 10,000 Turkish soldiers to help us occupy the Baath Triangle, but if they weren't willing, they weren't willing.
The best way to repair damage to the Turkish economy caused by sanctions was not to sell towels, but to put an end to them. The best way to do that was to put down Saddam once and for all.
It is a shame that Saddam drove the Kurds into Anatolia after Gulf War 1, but with the help of Turkish airbases we established the enclave that allowed the Kurds to go home. Turkey paid a high cost for living next door to Saddam, but that is not a debt owed by the US; it is an opportunity for friends to team up and do something about it. We did. The Turks helped up to a point, and then they didn't. That doesn't make us enemies, there is still opportunity to collaborate, there is still a lot of work to be done. I'm not sure what the Turks are willing to do.
I fully expect to see PKK reactivated to go after the Baku Ceyhan pipeline, the Saudis and Iranians have no desire to see that in operation. So the Turks may get their chance to kill more of them before its over.
In an act of self emasculation the Turkish government rejected the US offer.
Were there strings attatched? Yes.Turkish forces were to assist after the war.
Did the Turkish government play the USA for suckers? Yes.The final demand for access to Turkish ports and roads to North Iraq was $25 Billion.
Did the Turkish leadership make promises they could not keep? Yes.Jacking up the pot in 5 card poker with only a pair of deuces, they promised access and then turned away the 4th ID.
Are Turkish bases required by the US? No. New bases are on stream in Iraq and in Georgia.
Were the Turkish government concerned about the prospects of a Kurdish Free State? Hell,Yes.Now the Turkish government has to sit and wait. When an 11 man Turkish Special Forces assassination team crossed into Kirkuk, US Green Berets sent them home.
The Turkish government had a chance to back the US. They chose not to....how sad! Now all that Turkey has in its future is bowing its knee to the EU.
Still, they make good Gastarbeiters in Germany! Cancel the terms, wily,unscrupulous, and untrustworthy and replace them with perfidious,ignorant, and high pitched.