Missteps with Turkey prove costly

MSNBC ^ | 3/28/2001 | N/A

[a_Turk]

Under the original Pentagon war plan, a powerful force of Army tanks and tens of thousands of troops now would be bearing down on Baghdad from northern Iraq as other heavily armored troops converged on the capital from the south.

NEITHER IS happening. In the south, Army troops and Marines are bogged down by supply problems and unexpected Iraqi resistance. In the north, 1,000 lightly armed U.S. paratroopers only arrived Wednesday night, not enough to seriously challenge the Iraqi government. The reason is that Turkey, a close NATO ally that shares a 218-mile border with Iraq, earlier this month refused a Bush administration request to permit the armored troop deployment from its soil.

[a_Turk]

A long editorial. Covers a bunch of little details..

[Keith]

a_turk, you can't just post this and make no comment.

Your thoughts please, we may not always agree with you, but we want to know your thoughts on this. We have been disturbed by the overwhelming Turkish opposition to this conflict and the stoning and egging of our trucks on TV today.

[ChemistCat]

I respect you and agree that we messed up with Turkey. I just don't wanna see anything from MSNBC running down our troops right now. :-(

[Cicero]

MSNBC isn't really credible. We no more misstepped with Turkey than we misstepped with France. France wanted to obstruct and undermine our war effort. So, I'm afraid did Turkey, probably egged on by France.

You can't negotiate with someone who doesn't want to negotiate. This wasn't about a few dollars or a few details. This was about a decision of the Turkish generals to throw their lot in with France rather than the U.S.

Big mistake.

[Uncle George]

So if 900,000 tanks were coming South from Turkey to Baghdad, they would set at the 50 mile radius line till Sad-ham crumbles just as it stands now. 300,000 men there are plenty to wait out the fall of the thugs.

[zip]

What are you talking about?

[snooker]

How many think the media is dumping this bile tonight just to drive the stock market down tommorrow? Raise your hands.

[sirchtruth]

Is the morally vapid media working for the Iraqi Ministry Of Info?

I have never seen such an array of BullShinola.

[sinkspur]

I respect you and agree that we messed up with Turkey.

We didn't "mess up" with Turkey. Turkey screwed the pooch with its obstinance.

To hell with Turkey. These clowns are going to rue the day.

[WOSG]

"Army troops and Marines are bogged down by supply problems and unexpected Iraqi resistance"

Not this again! Pentagon is saying again and again and again - no supply problems. The army is fed, plenty of ammo and gas.

Frankly, the sniping by the journalists has been far more massive than the sniping by the Saddamite fedayeen.

[WOSG]

"Is the morally vapid media working for the Iraqi Ministry Of Info?"

If you hear about what Peter Arnett is saying - telling Iraqi TV that US war plans have "failed" - you wouldnt' think its a rhetoric question!

My wife says Mr Arnett should be tried for treason. At least, MSNBC is *off* my list of news sources for now.

[Dog Gone]

Interesting article. Clearly the US assumed that Turkey would eventually come around. The fact that they didn't is one of the more amazing stories in recent history.

I still can hardly believe it. Good post.

[fish hawk]

Sorry but I have no respect for anyone,especially one named Turk, who would post this article and not make a comment. Like the President said, If you are not for us , you are against us. nuff said.

[a_Turk]

That was a pretty long article to be read and responded to in the short space of four minutes of it being posted, Cheech..

[Coroner]

The turks view us as infidels. I hope we make an oil rich Kurdish state. The turks are'nt a tolerant bunch as the media would have us believe. To see the "tolerance" of the turks go to "http://biblenetworknews.com/" Put in turkey in their search. In it you will find stories such as; Turkish govt. shuts down 7 Christian radio stations or Turk govt. closes Church calling it "offensive" to society.

[struwwelpeter]

It's hard to complain about the outcome of what was obviously a free parliamentary decision. There may or may not be something to the rumors of a Franco-German "offer" made with regards to Turkey's EU status, but the Turkish parliament's debate was open and heated. I'm amazed that the American request was just barely defeated, given the overwhelming disapproval of the Turkish nation.

Yes, politicians pandering to momentary popular sentiment is a bitch. Thank God we never do that here. (/sarcasm)

[Cicero]

I'm afraid Turkey didn't negotiate in good faith. They kept us dangling, kept the troops and equipment sitting there, delayed the decision, and disguised a planned and deliberate decision as an unexpected snafu by an inexperienced political leader and a rambunctious parliament.

None of that was true. Turkey sold us out. If they had just said "no," fine. But they kept us dangling and then stabbed us in the back. You can't "negotiate" with that.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

This entire effort against Iraq has brought the truth into the light of day. Turkey, like France, is on the wrong side of history and supports the barbarians who would destroy civilization. At least we now know who our few friends are. The UK, Australia and a few others.