Turkish Parliament Speaker Says Troop Vote Rejected

Reuters ^

[muawiyah]

The alliance between the US and Turkey extends back to the days of the American Revolution.

[Turk2]

The vote and discussion were held in a closed session. The proceedings of closed sessions of Parliament are not disclosed to the public before 10 years. However, the outcomes of all votes and content of all motions are public information. There is no way that this could be faked.

[Turk2]

What does this have to do with Islam?

[AmishDude]

Is it possible that the abstentions could be cover for the majority party to try to get one more round of negotiations out of the US? It just seems curious to me that the vote was behind closed doors.

[muawiyah]

Are you referring to my comment concerning the several centuries we have generally been allied with Turkey, or to the comment I made regarding Islam not having anything to do with the Turkish parliamentary vote?

[muawiyah]

Look, the Turks want into the European Community. The arch-traitor Chirac has publicly told everyone supporting the US in the battle against Saddam that they will NEVER get into the EC.

Presumably Chirac's threat applies to Turkey as well.

Membership in the EC is worth more to the Turks than this particular war against Saddam (they foolishly think!).

The solution to all of this is to assassinate Chirac and place Saddam in charge of France as dictator in exile. The French have a long history of having warm feelings for such folks.

[Robert_Paulson2]

believe me turk... I HOPE you are right. I WISH you WERE right.
I fear you are not.

we have been put off til tuesday however... your decision time is up. WHAT can the cabinet do, now that the people have spoken? What can we do, when we can wait no longer. We are on to other plans... since no more delays can be sustained on OUR end... to us it is over. sorry. I truly am.

It's not political against your people, it's practical with our solidiers lives. This delay has cost us valuable and necessary basing time. There will be a pricetag in American lives due to these unnecessary delays. WE told you we needed you as much as a year ago.
It was not a political issue with us at that time, but it is religiopolitical with your leadersl... There is no nice way to say that in a measure you guys are going to be on your own, sad to say. You can pass on these AMERICAN sentiments to those you care about.

This will be mild compared to what is going to be said in the very near future I surmise.
Nevertheless I appreciate your commentary and hope you are right about things getting better or turning around. We have done all we can, be well.

[CatoRenasci]

No, you don't understand. We needed your vote two to three weeks ago, and your government delayed and delayed, wringing more and more concessions out of us. Most Americans regarded this as distasteful, but perhaps (just perhaps) understandable. OK, you'd vote with us at the last minute. You didn't. There isn't any more time if we're going to go in early to mid March, and we can't want into April. At some point, and that point was Saturday's vote, you had to fish or cut bait. Your Parliament made its decision. We don't have a choice, now, we have to assume you are against us. That's unfortunate, but in the long run a lot more unfortunate for Turkey than for the United States. As the Japanese and Germans found out, and as the Russians know, we are slow to anger, but when we've really lost our patience, we are a terrible enemy.

As to your question what this has to do with Islam, that's very simple. Turkey is the only (ostensibly) secular Islamic state. Turkey was the only (and I mean only) hope that Islam could coexist with Western civilization. Islam is fundamentally in its doctrines and practices hostile to the basic tenets of Western civlization: individual liberty, religious freedom, and capitalism. Turkey has just shown this professionally trained historian who has been reading extensively in the history of the Middle East since 9/11 that when push comes to shove, Islamic countries are unreliable and hostile. I would say Turkey is only 24-48 hours away from the United States permanently writing her off as an ally. And that means we need someone else to control the Straits, with all of the implications that implies.

[cardinal4]

Control of the Dardanelles isnt as crucial now as was during the cold war. Well, for oil transport if the Caspian is developed........

[chilepepper]

Not true: Islam is splintered along the lines of the Imam's that a believer chooses to follow: one Imam may interpret sharia very different than another. Unfortunately, most (but by no means all) of the Imam are in a race to be the most extreme interpreters of the Qu'uran.

There are numerous other grouping within Islam besides Shi'a and Sunni, notoriously, the Wahhabi Sect that are the source of Islam's most violent fundamentalism...

[Captain Kirk]

"go back to the head of the Enterprise." I am beginning to realize how and why you chose your screen name. Yuck!

[CatoRenasci]

Preventing Russia from having access to the Med remains important, right now they're not a problem, but we've inherited the Eastern Question and the Straits need to be in friendly hands (or closed).

[sheik yerbouty]

Abandon your search for Klingons..