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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Turkey |
| 2004-08-02 |
| Turkey's truckers association said Monday it would stop delivering goods to U.S. forces in Iraq, in what appeared to be a direct response to insurgents' brutal, videotaped killing of a Turkish hostage and an attempt to win freedom for two other captives. We'll remember this, Turkey. How nice that the EU didn't admit your sorry @ss. It's beginning to look like Turkey is not really any sort of moderate Muslim country at all. Collaborating with the terrorists, honor A video posted Monday on the Internet showed militants pumping three bullets into the head of a Turkish hostage, identified as Murat Yuce, who was kidnapped in Iraq. It was not clear when the shooting took place. Before he was killed, the man said he worked for the Turkish company Bilintur. In Ankara, Bilintur told The Associated Press that the catering firm has an employee named Murat Yuce in Iraq, but had no knowledge that he had been killed. I guess he got off easy with the headshots instead of the hacksaw. |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #12 Anyone here know the difference between official Turkish government policy, and the actions of one freaking private company? Jeez, I love you guys, but you get really freaking closed-minded sometimes. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-08-03 12:33:39 AM |
| #11 The best security is to find the thug-boys doing this crap. And kill them. No argument there. And, yes, the Kurds might get a tad squirrely with Turkish troops in the realm. Mine was merely a point regarding Turkey's lackluster overall performance vis Iraq. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-03 12:00:08 AM |
| #10 Zen, what Turkey's government does is separate from what the Turkish truck drivers do. The drivers are a bunch of regular joes just out to do a job and collect a day's pay. There's a difference, and most people doing a regular job would see this, between understanding the risk of driving into Iraq to deliver a load of goods, and having one of your pal's executed by a bunch of thugs. Sending Turkish troops into Iraq to protect their drivers? You might want to ask the Iraqis, especially the Kurdish ones, about that. The best security is to find the thug-boys doing this crap. And kill them. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-02 10:10:55 PM |
| #9 Steve White, anybody going into or living in Iraq knows their life is on the line every minute of the day. I doubt the Turkish truck drivers had any illusions about this as well. In light of how Turkey has benefited from America maintaining the no-fly zone and thereby helping to quell Kurdish unrest, what was to stop them from sending in troops to protect their foreign nationals from harm? Oh, I see, that would have required a putative American ally to actually provide material support for a conflict on their immediate border that has only served to increase Turkey's stability. Silly me. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-02 8:24:20 PM |
| #8 I gotta go with 5974 on this one -- awfully hard to ask a civilian truck driver to risk his life to deliver a load of goods in a war zone. They sign up for the pay, not for being taken hostage and then being shot. If we want the goods delivered, we have to ensure proper convoy security, route security, and driver security, or (better yet) kill the people who would kill innocent truck drivers. I don't blame the truckers and the trucking association at all. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-02 7:12:44 PM |
| #7 As much as I'd like to slam Turkey, this makes much more sense than having civilians in a war zone and then having to pull out troops later to save them, ala Phillipines. If you can't stand the heat.. well do what Turkey did. I don't think any business contract is valid if it could bring about the death of civilians. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5974 2004-08-02 6:57:14 PM |
| #6 Let's keep this in mind next time the word Kurdistan is brought up. |
| Posted by: Destro 2004-08-02 6:20:41 PM |
| #5 Then if the Turkish gov't is our true ally, they should help us sue the Turkish company for not living up to the contract the company signed. Spot on, rex! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-02 6:16:17 PM |
| #4 It wasn't the government, but it's still stupid and wrong. Then if the Turkish gov't is our true ally, they should help us sue the Turkish company for not living up to the contract the company signed. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-08-02 6:12:54 PM |
| #3 Let's see, as I recall Turkey is up to 3 strikes and the phony pro-US batter is now out. First they let us down at the last minute with pre-Iraq War. Then they've interfered whispering sweet nuthings in Bremer's and Powell's ears causing us to treat the Iraqi Kurds like second class allies. Now they won't supply our troops though they signed a legal document. Stop foreign aid to the Turks as of yesterday. We can still do trade business with them, but take them off the US taxpayers' tit. I am tired of these fair weather allies who are there with their hands out when they need us but when we need them, it's a cold shoulder. When is the WH and Congress going to wise up about Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, all of Africa, the Phillipines...sheesh, the list of foreign countries at the trough is too long to recite here. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-08-02 6:11:05 PM |
| #2 It wasn't the government, but it's still stupid and wrong. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-08-02 6:07:27 PM |
| #1 Sultan Suleyman must be spinning in his grave like a top. To think, these were once a proud and brave people. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5969 2004-08-02 5:55:56 PM |