Posted on 09/15/2014 6:34:46 PM PDT by xzins
When Armenian-Americans voiced their anger over Turkey’s role in the incursion into Kessab last spring, US authorities merely expressed “concern” about the well-being of Armenians and Christian minorities. Despite the community’s insistence that Turkey was directly involved in allowing the al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra rebels to freely enter Kessab, the US State Department was reticent in fingering its NATO ally.
Fast forward to today when the Obama Administration is leading a fragile coalition against the Islamic State for Iraq and Syria, an off shoot of Al Nusra known as ISIS, and Turkey is, once again, rejecting American access to its airspace in Incirlink and is refusing to join the coalition against the Islamic State.
On Friday, the London-based The Telegraph quoted former US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Riccardione as saying that Turkey has directly supported al Qaeda’s Syrian wing in defiance of the US and has worked with other hard-line al Qaeda affiliates, effectively opening its borders to Syria and allowing free access to those rebels.
Riccardione said that Turkey was attempting to make those hard-line factions more moderate. However, Al Nusra, the group credited for the invasion of Kessab, was the predecessor of ISIS as members of its core group splintered from Al Nusra to create the group that is now at the center of the US campaign.
“We ultimately had no choice but to agree to disagree,” Riccardione was quoted by The Telegraph about the US response to Turkey’s fist-hand involvement with the group.
“The Turks frankly worked with groups for a period, including al Nusra, whom we finally designated as we’re not willing to work with,” Riccardione was quoted in The Telegraph.
Essentially, the US’s response seemed to have been to turn a blind eye to Turkey’s collusion with terrorists, just as Turkey turned a blind eye to the al Qaeda rebels using its border as a transit route to Syria and the ensuing destruction and loss of life in places like Kessab and Aleppo.
While Riccardione’s statements are not the “official” US response, because he left the government when his mission ended in June, his statements paint a clear enough picture to conclude that the US knew about Turkey’s role in al Qaeda’s attack in Kessab and chose to do nothing. In fact, it also went a step further to cover up any suggestion of Turkey’s involvement and lied to its own constituents.
Riccardione’s statements and Turkey’s rejection of US efforts to fight ISIS promoted the Wall Street Journal on Monday to say: “The unavoidable conclusion is that the U.S. needs to find a better regional ally to fight ISIS.”
“The better bet is with the Kurds, who have the most on the line and are willing to provide the boots on the ground that others can’t or won’t,” said the WSJ adding, “Incirlik has been a home for U.S. forces for nearly 60 years, but perhaps it’s time to consider replacing it with a new U.S. air base in Kurdish territory in northern Iraq. America may no longer have friends in Ankara, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have options in the Middle East.”
This is not a “we told you so,” but rather a glimpse into the duplicitous manner in which US foreign policy is being advanced under the Obama Administration in the name of justice and US interests. When ISIS splintered from Al Nusra last summer under the auspices of Turkey, the US did not act and perpetuated its long-standing policy of providing Turkey cover for its murderous policies.
Now that the US finds itself at the center of the crisis in the region and it feels compelled to mount an international campaign against ISIS, these semi-official statements open the door for major news outlets to express outrage and propose alternatives to Turkey, which is now being viewed as a destabilizing force in the region.
One would hope that this will truly become the wake-up call for the US to think long and hard and—in the name of justice and US interests—stop its unconditional support and patronage of Turkey, which probably viewed the US’s non-response as carte blanche to, once again, wreak havoc in that region with impunity.
Meanwhile, the American public, including the Armenian community, must hold the administration accountable for its misleading policy and lies to its constituents.
So a NATO member allies itself with terrorists and isn’t booted from the organization? What the hell?
The ex-Fla Congressman inveigled the US to launch a "cooperative effort to further Turkish economic and military self-reliance," so the US stupidly loaned and granted Turkey more than $7 billion in economic aid and more than $14 billion in military assistance.
So much for "peace and cooperation." Turkey is now acquiring nuclear weapons and the ex-Fla Congressman is now running a.n.o.t.h.e.r Mideast (cough) "Peace" group sucking up US tax dollars.
Countless US assets---our embassies, ships and military bases are bombed----our military and diplo-personnel savaged, killed, maimed and tortured by fanatics in Mideast hellholes---and invariably the US gets the blame: "We weren't stern enough, we weren't strong enough"---and my personal favorite----"we didn't give them enough money," etc etc etc.
REALITY CHECK: let us count the ways America has been duped:
Neocons duped the US into pouring trillions into Islamic Afghanistan.....the most corrupt spot on the globe. The Bank of Kabul is engaged in massive fraud---the bank gets billions of US tax dollars deposited to run the war----if you are "a connected" Afghani you can withdraw billions with no silly responsibility to pay it back. Afghan Pres Karzhai was seen loading billions of US dollars to transport out of the country.
Who could forget Obama's "Arab Spring" when all of the terrorists would suddenly become sap-happy humanitarians, weaving daisy chains while frolicking around the May pole?
Since he duped America into electing him in 2008-12, Obama's been prostrate, apologizing for America-----on his knees, all puckered up, sucking up to America-hating countries. Obama and the Chicago crime kingpins he installed in the WH have done everything possible to undermine US ntl security --- and they did it with our tax dollars.
Obama entertained the Muslim Brotherhood in the WH---and he gave the Muslim Brotherhood $2 billion tax dollars to finance its anti-American activities. It's entirely conceivable that the Mideast killings of Americans is being financed w/our tax dollars---thanks to the idiot in the WH. He and the Chicago crime bosses in the WH should be charged w/ un-American activities.
(more below)
=============================================
Then-Cong Robert Wexler (D-Fla) was instrumental in getting Turkey increased foreign aid "to (gag) achieve Mideast Peace." Cong Wexler founded the Congressional Caucus on US-Turkish Relations and served on the Congressional Study Group on Turkey.
THE "PEACEMAKER" UNRAVELS In July 2008, it was revealed that Wexler claimed his mother-in-law's home in Delray Beach as his official residence (though he was listed on the House roll as "D-Boca Raton"), but lives in a Maryland suburb for most of the year.
Edward J. Lynch, a Republican running for Wexler's congressional seat, researched Wexler's living arrangements and took his argument to Fox News. "The house he lists on his voter registration is his in-laws' house, in a gated 55-and-older community," Lynch said. "Legally, he can't move back with children under 18."
After Wexler was confronted about the allegation, he stated that his mother-in-law does own the house in Delray Beach. But he also said he stays there when in Florida which, according to his office is, on average, about twice a month.
As a putative Florida resident, Wexler did not pay personal income tax, and his vehicles were also registered in that state, despite his near-permanent residency in Maryland and the Washington metropolitan area.
Wexler, born in 1961, does not personally meet the age requirements for his mother-in-law's senior community. Wexler later obtained a separate address within Palm Beach County.
BACKSTORY Robert Wexler was then Democratic member of the US House representing Florida's 19th congressional district, from 1997 until his resignation on January 3, 2010 (when he was forced out for lying).
Robert Wexler is now president of his own (gag) Mideast peace group---the Washington-based non-profit S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace (financed with limitless Congressional earmarks?).
You mean the US?
As the putative "Fla Congressman (ousted for lying)," Wexler inveigled the US to launch a "cooperative effort" to further Islamic Turkey's "economic and military self-reliance."
At Wexler's behest, the US stupidly loaned and granted Islamic Turkey more than $7 billion in economic aid, and more than $14 billion in military assistance.
================================================
In July 2008, it was revealed that then-Cong Robert Wexler claimed his mother-in-law's home in Delray Beach, Fla as his official residence (though he was listed on the House roll as "Dem-Boca Raton")...he actually lived in a Maryland suburb for most of the year.
Edward J. Lynch, a Republican running for Wexler's congressional seat, researched Wexler's living arrangements and took his argument to Fox News. "The house he lists on his voter registration is his in-laws' house, in a gated 55-and-older community," Lynch said. "Legally, he can't move back with children under 18."
After Wexler was confronted about the allegation, he stated that his mother-in-law does own the house in Delray Beach. But he also said he stays there when in Florida which, according to his office is, on average, about twice a month.
As a putative Florida resident, Wexler did not pay personal income tax, and his vehicles were also registered in that state, despite his near-permanent residency in Maryland and the Washington metropolitan area.
Wexler, born in 1961, did not meet the age requirements for his mother-in-law's senior community. Wexler later obtained a separate address within Palm Beach County.
back before we were enlightened we could have said ‘a coalition of broads’.
but I’ve rejected all such forms of politically incorrect evil
/sarc
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.