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| Iraq | ||
| Barzani sez he'll resign if Turks send troops | ||
| 2003-10-17 | ||
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani was quoted as saying that there would be âdire consequencesâ if Turkish troops entered Iraq and threatened to resign from the Governing Council. Ankara has offered to send forces to Iraq but the US-appointed Council opposes involvement of troops from any of Baghdadâs neighbours. âIt is not just the Kurds who are opposed to Turkish military presence,â Barzani was quoted in the Ashark al-Awsat newspaper as saying. Kurds, who dominate northern Iraq, are particularly opposed to Ankaraâs presence. They accuse Turkey of trying to stir up ethnic tensions between them and the Turkmen minority in Iraq.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #9 That's actually a great idea, Ed. But why would the Turks do that? It would actually assist the Americans! Pshaw! that's clearly not in their game plan. |
| Posted by: B 2003-10-17 6:04:21 PM |
| #8 Simple solution here, really... if the Turks offer troops, accept them. Then use them to replace American troops in Afghanistan. The Turks ARE great fighters, ask anyone who served with them in Korea. Tough, savage, they don't take shit from anyone. Just what we need to put down all of the nickel-and-dime warlords in Afghanistan. With the Turks in Afghanistan, we can reduce American troop levels, and have more troops for Iraq. Simple, no? Ed Becerra. |
| Posted by: Ed Becerra 2003-10-17 4:38:15 PM |
| #7 Apparently the Iraqi's are not as gullible as the Americans. |
| Posted by: B 2003-10-17 2:40:44 PM |
| #6 Turks. BAD idea. No, totally stupid. The one group wholeheartedly for the US was the Kurds. And of course, Turkey was such a damned big help in refusing to let us use their territory for a major push. And not only do the Kurds hate the Turks, but the Arabs absolutely loathe them. If the intent is to unite IRAQ by pissing off absolutely every IRAQI there is, regrdless of ethnicity or sect, this will do it. Why the hell are we giving the Turks what they want after they screwed us anyway? |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2003-10-17 2:16:20 PM |
| #5 India is the best bet. Forget Pakistan, they are not trustworthy. Forget South Korea, they are in chaos. Nobody else has a significant number of reasonably able and trustworthy troops that would not cause serious political problems at home. Personally, I'm not too sure about the Turks. |
| Posted by: buwaya 2003-10-17 11:50:22 AM |
| #4 I think you are right Liberalhawk, the US is waiting the result of the new UN resolution. There is a chance that Pakistan could provide some troops and maybe South Korea, the problem would be to find countries who can provide real big numbers, countries that have the army capacity to do so and there are not so many when thinking that even the mighty US army gasps for more capacity. I agree with you that the US tries to find an alternative. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-10-17 10:06:19 AM |
| #3 my understanding is that no one expects more than about 10,000 Turkish troops, and the expectation is that they would be deployed in the "sunni triangl" probably Fallujah. Obviously the Iraqis would prefer not to have them - but those same Iraqis want security established, and arent exactly showing us where to get extra troops in time for us to rotate troops out. Would Barzani be happy to have more US national guard troops instead - cant blame him, thats the best solution for him - but then he doesnt have to worry about long term National Guard recruitment and retention. This becomes a matter of negotiation - the tougher Barzani et al are, the more Turkish "conditions" can be minimized - Turkey OTOH, if it is to send troops, want to get the most possible political gain in exchange. And with the new UNSC res the US can try again to get other troops, and use those as leverage. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-10-17 9:05:57 AM |
| #2 Why not allow them border duty only. Pick your poison: Syria or Saudi Arabia. They would be some distance between the troops and most of the population centers, and they would cut back on the money and weapons [and jihadis] flowing into the country |
| Posted by: Cog 2003-10-17 4:19:07 AM |
| #1 It becomes funnier each day, Turkey is portrait as if it is very eager to send its forces to die in Iraq and become a co-occupier while the request to sent forces comes from the US. Anyway I would be one of the happy guys if a Turkish involvement in Iraq would not happen at all. I donât follow al of the American press therefore I find your site very informative Fred, but here from while to while we can read about the military delegations and some delegations of US senators who are visiting Turkey and their talks upon request of troops that leaks out to the press. The last press leak mentioned about a possibility of 50.000 Turkish troops for Iraq, as you all may remember prior to the war there where talks on 90.000 US troops and 60.000 Turkish troops to form a northern front which didnât take place after the Turkish parliament rejected the motion by a few votes. It seems that the US are trying to get that backup of 60.000 Turkish troops once again, which would make sense since the US is in dire need of fresh troops. Though I think that the Pentagon will not easily be persuaded to leave out Turkish troops (for planning reasons), I would like it to get surprised. |
| Posted by: Murat 2003-10-17 2:55:39 AM |