Turkish Parliament Rejects U.S. Plan to Send 62,000 Combat Troops to Turkey for Iraq War

AP ^

[alancarp]

The parliament vote was 264-250 in favor, with 19 abstentions. But speaker Bulent Arinc said the outcome fell three votes short of the simple majority required by the constitution.

So who was counting the votes in those Broward County precincts???

[Mo1]

Me Too ... This roller coaster ride we have been on with the Turks is complete BS ..

[UncleSamUSA]

Which brings up another question I am almost afraid to ask:

If there are 15 members in the Security Council, and 8 represents a majority out of 15, then why are NINE votes neeeded for a resolution to pass.

Oh hell, why bothering to ask a question about the Frelling United Nations. Nothing there makes sense. Nothing.

[whadizit]

Bah Humbug!! The US does not "wait for advice from gov't of Turkey" in order to prosecute a war!! Who is in charge of this fiasco???? Get the hell out of there and tell them "buh bye"!

[maestro]

Right!

This whole ME 'debate' is IMO a delaying ploy to change this OP into their mutual OP to be named, "Desert Heat".

:-(

[dmeara]

Really.. what would be so bad about an independent Kurdistan, after all?

[Cvengr]

No problem, just push all the Iraqi forces into Turkey and let the Turks deal with it. If they loose, too bad.

[alancarp]

...9 of 15 majority...

I guess 60% is required if you're going through the UN. Or only one vote if you're going through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

[Republican Wildcat]

Need to get three of those 19 abstentions to come on board.

[what i think]

i think a pact with the kurds is now impossible. we sold them out in 91, and we were about to do it again. would you trust us?

[Procyon]

Let's unload the ships at Haifa and roll everything through Jordan. Give the Jordies the $15 billion.

I have an idea the Turks don't want the US in the north, because when the war starts, they intend themselves to occupy northern Iraq to prevent the establishment of a Republic of Kurdistan.

[dalebert]

Wonder what they want now?

[rs79bm]

I say ta' hell with 'em if $20 Billion isn't enough. We don't need you either, Turkey.

[spitz]

Does this mean Turkey will suspend all overflights to Kuwait of American Aircraft from Europe? They’ve already held up the RAF deploying extra aircraft from Cyprus.

[tomahawk]

Turkey cannot stay for long in northern Iraq. That would make them invaders, unlike the U.S., which are liberators.

[eleni121]

Why is anyone surprised? Does no one remember Turks' complete lack of support for the US and allies in Desert Storm?

We don’t need Turkey in order to defeat Saddam Hussein!

The argument used by Turkey’s proponents and paid foreign agents that we cannot defeat or use force against Iraq without Turkey is without merit. The U.S. does not need the Incirlik NATO air base in southeast Turkey to use force against Iraq. The U.S. has several air bases as near and nearer to Iraq than Incirlik, including the British base on Cyprus and several U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf area and aircraft carriers. The Washington Post lists nine air bases in addition to Incirlik and aircraft carriers in an article "War Plans Target Hussein Power Base" (Wash. Post, Sept. 22, 2002, at A1, col. 5).

The Persian Gulf War proved that the U.S. does not need Turkey regarding our use of force against Saddam Hussein. Turkey refused the use of its air space and Incirlik during Desert Shield from August 2, 1990 to January 16, 1991; refused the U.S. request to open a second front against Iraq (Wash. Post, Jan. 16, 1991, at A6, col. 5) and allowed large-scale smuggling along its 206 mile border with Iraq (Wall Street Journal Oct. 30, 1990, at 1, col.1).

[what i think]

we've made a terrible mistake in assuming turkey would help us. those ships will have to be moved now to kuwait. i have heard that it will delay deployment by over 30 days, taking us more and more into the summer months.
bush should horsewhip the team that was in charge of this.

[CatoRenasci]

And the way North from Jordan is through Syria -- which neds to be taken care of as well.

The Turks have really screwed the pooch on this one. End NATO now, form an alliance with the Brits, Spanish, Italians and the Eastern Europeans, and tell the Greeks they're welcome to the Turks.

[Siobhan]

I suspect setting up in Armenia would be an appropriate way to spank Turkey. Give 4 billion dollars to Armenia and watch Turkey freak out.

[maestro]

Your#38)................You understand the game!

Nasty, nasty. :-)