Posted on 03/21/2003 6:04:26 AM PST by JudgeAmint
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Latest from Debka.... |
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HEADLINES |
Fresh flare-up of US-Turkish military frictions. Ankara holds back permission for American over-flights in reprisal for US denial of Turkish troop entry into northern Iraq.Ankara also furious over US joining forces with Kurds for northern oil fields takeover. |
| U.S. braces for 'massive' Turkish intervention in northern Iraq |
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, March 20, 2003
WASHINGTON — The United States appears resigned to the prospect that Turkey will intervene militarily in northern Iraq.
U.S. officials said the Bush administration has been unsuccessful in efforts to persuade Ankara to refrain from military intervention in northern Iraq. They said despite appeals and warnings from President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, Turkey has already deployed more than 20,000 troops in northern Iraq and plans major operations against suspected Kurdish insurgents.
"Turkey sees northern Iraq as part of its strategic zone of influence and nothing we have said has changed anything," an official said. "We can expect a massive Turkish military operation as soon as the war begins."
The officials said a Turkish operation against Kurdish insurgents would focus on the banned Kurdish Workers Party, thousands of members of which are believed deployed in northern Iraq. They said Turkey has also transferred weapons to the Turkmen, or ethnic Turkish majority, in what could spark ethnic battles in the area.
Bush's envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is said to have achieved little headway in efforts to prevent a Turkish military invasion of Iraq. Khalilzad has met Turkish leaders as well as help organize meetings between Kurdish military commanders and Ankara.
"We have been working with Turkey to make sure that we keep tensions on its northern border, on Iraq's northern border, at the lowest possible levels, and we expect the Turkish government, as well as the Iraqi parties, to be responsive to our concerns," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Wednesday.
So far, Turkish military commanders and officials have met two sets of Iraqi Kurdish opposition leaders. Turkey has insisted that Turkmen leaders attend the sessions as well.
The meetings have included Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani, who is regarded as the most pro-American figure in northern Iraq. Officials said the meetings have been tense.
Officials said Khalilzad's mission has been to ensure U.S.-Turkish-Kurdish military coordination to avoid clashes in northern Iraq. Khalilzad said Washington intends to capture the oil-rich cities of Kirkuk and Mosul.
At the same time, Khalilzad wanted Ankara's commitment that Turkish troops would stay out of those cities. Officials said Turkey's response was noncommital.
"We're expecting a dirty war in northern Iraq," an official said. "I'm not sure we're going to be in the position to do anything about it."
On Wednesday, the Bush administration stressed that Ankara's agreement for U.S. use of Turkish air space for the war against Iraq would not warrant special U.S. aid to Turkey. "Overflights are routinely granted by other member nations without any questions of financial assistance or the need for dealing with any economic consequences," Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said.]
For their part, Turkey has refused to place limits on how many forces it would senâ to Iraq. On Thursday, Turkey's parliament is expected to vote on a new government request to send troops to northern Iraq. The government proposal also includes permission for U.S. use of Turkish air space.
"Their number will be as much as necessary," Turkish Cabinet spokesman Cemil Cicek said.
dep
I think President Bush knows this. I hope he'll command the interdiction of the region against a Turkish incursion, by air power at minimum. We can only wait and watch -- and hope.
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This is DEBKA and should be taken with a massive dose of tinfoil, however Turkey has no business sending any opportunistic forces at all into Iraq, and the US needs to kick its arse back out of there if it tries. Whether Bush will is another story.
Or maybe this will be the straw that finally broke the Turko-loving State Dept's back?
I agree. Looking back at all the waffling Turkey has done and the ridicule that the press has smugly heaped on the administration, we ought to have jusy left them out altogether. We can't risk pitting the Kurds against us in the north during the conflict or sparking guerrilla action afterwards. Note to turkey: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS.
they already did..........they sided with the Euro wimps two weeks ago and now are just trying to be a spoiler.
You mean ... with half the world supporting them? 'Cuz that's what "unilaterally" appears to mean...
IIRC, there are 70,000 Kurds under US command in northern Iraq. Turkey may be waiting until the Kurds move with us against the northern Iraqi cities. This would draw the Kurds away from the Iraq - Turkey border. Then Turkey could swoop into northern Iraq and attack the Kurd territories in northern Iraq. Or maybe not.
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