Turkey gets ready for WAR

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey is ready to set up refugee camps inside northern Iraq to shelter and feed thousands who may flee any U.S. military strike against neighboring Iraq, a Turkish Red Crescent official said.

Turkey, a close U.S. ally likely to play a role in any strike on Iraq, is determined to avoid the international humiliation and scorn it suffered after the 1991 Gulf War when one million Kurdish refugees, starving and exhausted, crossed over the region's mountains into Turkey.

Turkish troops initially tried to hold the exodus inside Iraq but were rapidly overwhelmed by sheer numbers of refugees who soon exhausted meager local provisions. The pictures of chaos and suffering in the makeshift camps inside Turkey were broadcast internationally. "The priority is to set up a buffer zone 10 miles inside Iraq to provide for any Iraqis who may cross the border," Muzaffer Karadede, chief of the Red Crescent in the city of Diyarbakir, told reporters late on Monday.

There was also provision for handling refugees inside Turkey, a country suffering its worst recession since 1945.

In my opinion, Saddam is getting antsy, and Bush is probably keeping a close eye on him, trying to get as much preparation as possible in before Hussein tries to do something stupid. Right now it's a game of cat and mouse, information and disinformation, but I bet Saddam blinks soon.

If we hit first, we can destroy his launch and defense capabilities with e-bombs, as well as his utility infrastructure. Then we go in with regular bombs, hit the troops and military targets, send in the boys and armor from Northern Iraq and Jordan to catch any troops trying to make it across Jordan to Syria (fat chance, even without air support and a pincer move) and then besiege Baghdad. He's pretty much screwed.

If he gets off a bio or chem attack before we hit him, God help everybody. Since local forces are then severely limited by casualties, the alternative is nuclear retaliation. Then the "atrocity" of this enflames the Arab World,especially if it's Israel that retaliates, and the whole region deteriorates into anarchy, the sympathizers and terrorists in western nations launch attacks and riots, oil prices skyrocket, and the world economy goes to hell in a hand-basket.

If it was me, I'd hit them Saturday afternoon on Aug.31. You don't want to wait and see what happens on the 11th, and you want to launch an attack when you can minimize casualties inside the US in the event of retaliatory terrorist strikes.

If you hit in the afternoon on Saturday, you have all night to run sorties under cover of darkness, and most of your holiday travelers will be off the road by then. You have a long holiday weekend in which most businesses and offices will be empty. It's the perfect time if you're going to attack sooner rather than later.

You are spot on about an Israeli retaliation for NBC attack. The stupidest thing Israel's enemies could do is to threaten their existence. That would be nuclear suicide.

Bush will probably not chance giving the Republicans an "unfair" advantage by launching an attack before the election. It would run counter to the "new tone".

That being said, I hope I'm wrong. I hope he allows the military to determine the attack dates based upon military considerations only.

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.