How France blocked U.S. in Ankara

New York Sun ^ | 26 March 2003 | Michael Ledeen

[Tamaqua]

How France Blocked U.S. In Ankara

MICHAEL LEDEEN

Everybody knows that Turkey did not permit America to stage operations from Turkish bases, but hardly anybody realizes that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the vote was not an Islamic protest against the American-led coalition,but an act of anti-American intimidation by France and Germany.

The Turkish government, which for the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire is based on an Islamic party, fully expected that Parliament would approve its proposal that America be given the use of Turkish air bases in the Iraqi war.The government was so confident that the party failed to demand internal discipline, and thus several deputies voted against the resolution.

But that does not account for the failure to approve the government’s proposal.

Primary blame for the defeat of the measure lies with the opposition — the secular, Kemalist parties that have governed the country since Ataturk.

Contrary to expectations, the opposition, responding to orders from party leaders, voted unanimously against the government’s position.

The leaders insisted on a disciplined "no" vote because of pressure — some would call it blackmail — from France and Germany.

The French and German governments informed the Turkish opposition parties that if they voted to help the Coalition war effort, Turkey would be locked out of Europe for a generation. As one Turkish leader put it, "there were no promises, only threats."

One can describe this behavior on the part of our erstwhile Old Europe allies only as a deliberate act of sabotage against America in time of war.

It is even worse than the behavior of France in the Security Council — first joining with us to give Iraq a "really, really, last chance" and then preventing us from acting as if the language of Resolution 1441 meant what it said.

It is of a piece with the exertions of French diplomats to "convince"African countries to vote against us in the U.N.

I think that when the events of the past few months are sorted out, we will find that French actions constitute the diplomatic equivalent of chemical and biological warfare.

Monsieur Chirac has stopped at nothing to try to prevent the defeat of Saddam Hussein, no matter how many American lives it cost.

And, more often than not, the Germans tagged along for the ride.

It is hard to imagine that such actions were solely the result of greed, whether personal or national.

To take such action, Mr. Chirac must have conceived of a French future not only independent of the United States, but in open opposition to us.

To be sure, he does not speak of France alone, or of the Franco/German entente, but rather of "Europe."

But he sees Europe as an extension of French power, not as a federal union in which all states will be free to pull their weight and pursue their sometimes diverging interests.

Thus, his rude insults to the Central European countries who joined with Spain, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and the others who support our efforts to liberate Iraq.

If they want to be part of Europe, he said, they should just shut up.

This is all part of the tectonic shifts taking place all over the world.

President Bush the Elder intuited the emergence of a new world order once the Soviet empire fell,but it is only now that we can begin to see the profundity of the changes and the magnitude of the challenges we will face in the immediate future.

To blame a transformation of such magnitude on the diplomatic style of this administration, as so many of President George W. Bush’s critics do, is to personalize, and thereby trivialize a world-historical event.

We’d better understand it, and fast.

[Destro]

Not really. I have never fully sympathized with Pat. I guess I am Paleo-Conservative light.

For example I am for free trade and free competition between similar industrial powers (like America-Germany-Japan) and not with nations like Mexico and China that invite the loss of manufacturing in America due to cheap labor etc.

I am against nation building but think we should be involved with the world.

[Destro]

I would also remove it from my bunk rank and rank it in the speculative section.

[Destro]

I agree with you on that point.

[the_doc]

Way to go, Destro!

[MJY1288]

What I think affected the vote in the Trukish Parliment more than anything else, was the fact that many in the press and many in Congress were calling the Turks "Rug Merchants"

I have always said that this was one hell of a way to treat a good friend like Turkey after the way they have loyally supported us in the past 50 years. Those people who said what they did about the Turks are no better than the French IMHO.

Turkey paid a big price after the Gulf War, That whole region was left in chaos after we pulled out. We encouraged the people in Southern Iraq to rise up and when they did we didn't help them. I don't blame anyone in that region not to trust us to stay the coarse. We have to earn that trust back now, and I think when this is over we be well on our way to doing so.

[Destro]

Neocons also supported Islamic sepratist movements for the exact same reason in India, China, Russia and the Balkans. Support for Turkey meant that Turkey served as a staging place for the jihad throughout Eurasia from the Balkans all the way deep into China. Again neo-coms betray their Trotskyite origins by advocating solving problems through the backing of armed resistance movements and world wide agitation and revolution.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Having lived in Turkey and knowing what fierce warriors they can be, how the Hell could the cheese-eating surrender monkies get them to cave???

[Destro]

Let us kill more Europeans this century! Who will be our allies in this war on Europe? Islam and China?

[Destro]

I agree--the Turks do what they do because they want to do it.

And no a_Turk I don't hate the Turks. I don't hate any people for their DNA.

[eleni121]

Turkish Muslim troops and paramilitaries have participated in many riots and pogroms as they always have. In fact, they are the ones (along with the Turkish peasants) - who commited genocide against millions of Christians. The Turk breed is well known except by themselves. Turkish history books are essentially revisionist propaganda history full of kemalist ideology and outright lies!

Denial...denial...denial.

[a_Turk]

>> Turkish Muslim troops and paramilitaries have participated in many riots and pogroms as they always have.

Were you there dear?

[a_Turk]

I remember your spiteful messages.. Turko-Mongol? Barbarian? These were some of the compliments you paid us..

[eleni121]

Our political leadership happens to be the Republican conservatives right now. You can take their words to the bank! I agree that when the Clintonista ideological leftists were in power we were in a heap of s**t. And because of those years of selling our nation's interests out to the internationalists we have found ourselves playing catch up and defense.

But Rumsie and W and the rest are now in control: They have our nation's interests as their first priority.

[walden]

Yeah, Ledeen is reliable-- writes for NRO, has a good book out on worldwide terror. He also seems to have real good sources in that part of the world.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

This is not an article--it is not even journalisim [sic]

Whew! Thanks for clearing that up. Next time I need clarification on a definition (though not necessarily spelling), I'll be sure to ping you...

[Tamaqua]

O.K. So I'm a little teste. The fact is, Turkey has done well looking to the West for the past 50 years. And this theory has fit in with their visceral hatred of the Russians anyway. If we haven't shown our bone fides to them during the cold war, something is seriously wrong.

Again I say, "Let them chose." If it is the West, the real West, not those weaklings France and Germany, then act like an ally. See England, Poland, Lithuania, and Australia.

[Destro]

Turko-Mongol and Barbarian are statements of historical fact. You yourself said the Chinese built the great wall to keep your people out. I would also accept Turko-Korean as an identifier.

[Longshanks]

I'll suggest that you do some research into who Michael Ledeen is

If the Ledeen quotes from this Buchanan article are accurate, then we definately are dealing with a Neocon agenda.

Ledeen apparently plans to embroil the US in an endless series of Middle East wars.

[Destro]

This article had my whiskey up!

[ET(end tyranny)]

I KNEW IT! I knew that membership into the EU was being dangled in front of the Turks! IF they helped the US they could forget about joining the EU. I posted about this angle last week!