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Next step, get it in writing.

After that I hope there will be a commission in Turkey made up of all government branches plus the army to ensure that nobody there suddenly gets rich...

All that assuming that the resolution passes parliament. That's not a given yet.. I am hoping it does.

Ankara will have to be reasonable. But I don't oppose substantial aid and Turkey is certainly owed aid, both for the present crisis and for their loyal friendship to us for so many decades. One can grasp why they feel so isolated when the Europeans are being so unpleasant over merely fulfilling their treaty obligations which they have no right to withhold and when France and Germany may revenge themselves upon Turkey for helping America against Iraq at the very time when Turkey is trying to enter the European Union to gain access to their markets.

I would say that when the price gets this high, I wouldn't support giving them oilfields as well. This price is more than all the foreign aid we normally give out in an entire year. But then, Turkey is a special ally. They are always there for us, even in the most unpopular and unpleasant wars we have fought. We shouldn't forget that either.

Turkey should drive a hard bargain (and they will <grin>) but avoid the public appearance of mercenary intent. It is not simply about immediate economic crisis though that must be addressed. We will remove a hostile neighbor presently under sanctions and replace it with a friendly neighbor who is free to develop its oil fully. And that creates opportunity for Turkey. I do not like to think that the impression will created in the new Iraq that Turkey only helped against Saddam because we paid them off. Sometimes, getting a good neighbor means being a good neighbor and doing the right thing to create a relationship of trust. But we Americans need have no doubts that Turkey will, once committed, fulfill its obligations very ably. Very ably.

I hope that Turkey and the new Iraq will be given the responsibility to protect a new semiautonomous Kurdish homeland and Turkey should be compensated for doing so. It would help to eliminate much of the Kurdish friction in both Turkey and Iraq. But I do not under any circumstance favor independence for the Kurds. It's far too likely to end badly. Let them have their own police and a very small army. And Turkey and the new Iraq can guard their borders.

Naturally, I'm assuming that both the new Iraq and a Kurdish district would both be required by treaty to enforce strictly secular Muslim states along the Turkish model. I don't favor any wiggle room in the treaties to allow either to become a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism or despotism. One would hope that both of them have had enough of that and will be willing to be good neighbors with Turkey and the rest of the region, including Israel. Despite the traditional hatreds and rivalries in the region, one can hope that Saddam has at least cured the the Iraqis and the Kurds of looking down that path again and that they can behave like civilized countries if their security is guaranteed.

LOL, in a couple of years the Germans and the French will be begging the rich Turks to move to their country to help bale out their failing economies. That'll really be fun to watch.