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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (5275)	3/21/2003 6:15:06 AM
From: bela_ghoulashi	Respond to of 15987

Okay, I admit it. I read British websites because they have all the best Chiraq-bashing op-ed's.

To: zonder who wrote (5275)	3/21/2003 3:03:40 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15987

How could we mess up like this? Turkish Daily Editorial March 20, 2003 puk.org By Ilnur Sevik This is the first administration in Turkish history that managed to ruin Turkey's ties with the US and the EU at the same time and in such a short time span Those of us who understand anything about international relations would see very clearly that Turkey has lost the trust of the United States and has disqualified itself from the Iraqi equation... The notorious government motion that was supposed to define the Turkish involvement in the Iraq war has been turned into a nonentity with the U.S. telling Turkey "we only want overflight rights and the rest is meaningless." This means the U.S. did not even request using Turkish bases or deploying troops in Turkey. They simply gave the elbow to Turkey leaving Ankara empty handed with no economic relief to cushion the negative effects of the war. On Wednesday the U.S. simply made a statement saying it will support the Turkish economy as long as Turkey sticks to the IMF and World Bank programs. They did not mention any new economic package which is to be expected when you are so uncooperative with Washington... Well done gentlemen! No other administration could have performed this miracle of ruining our ties with the United States and the European Union at the same time... At first our government just stalled the Americans. Then we toyed with them for weeks. In the end we could not deliver the motion and put everything into disarray. Now the Americans have shown that they do not take us seriously anymore and that Turkey will remain an ally but only an ally. The scandal lived with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as our people tried to bargain with him and were left empty handed is an insult to our country. If the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government had no intention of cooperating with the Americans they should have told them from the start and thus would not have angered Washington as much. As Turkey did in the first Gulf War they could have allowed the use of the Turkish bases by the Americans but they did not even do this. Now when Turkey says its is willing to cooperate with the U. S. in exchange for hard cash the Americans turn to Turkey and say "too late." A complete fiasco. No one can explain how this government has been so much misguided, misinformed and completely put off the track. How did sensible people like Tayyip Erdogan and Abdullah Gul who have been supported by the Americans since the day AK Party was founded have managed to disappoint Washington like this remains a mystery. Some people are even joking that someone may have cast a spell on Erdogan and Gul forcing them to make such mistakes. There is even gossip that the AK Party leadership is in fact Islamist and moved to finish off Turkey's relations with the West (both the U.S. and Europe)... We doubt this. All we can say is they listened to the wrong people who kept on telling them the Americans could not launch a war against Iraq without Turkey and those who urged them to use Byzantium tactics to bargain with the Americans... If they had listened to us or at least only read our editorials more carefully in the past two months they would not have made such fatal mistakes. "Gecmis olsun" to all of us . ilnur.cevik@tdn1.com

To: zonder who wrote (5275)	3/21/2003 6:23:22 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

I've also been reading the Britain's left-leaning Guardian online for stories like these: Hopes and fears guardian.co.uk While Iran's political and religious leaders have condemned Washington's move against Iraq, much of the country will be celebrating if Saddam Hussein's regime is overthrown, writes Dan De Luce. The "Great Satan" has invaded Iraq but students at Tehran University seem pleased at the prospect. "It will be a good thing to have American troops in Iraq. Perhaps that will bring change to Iran," said Namin, a lanky engineering student strolling to class. "Maybe that will put more pressure on the regime here." Unlike fellow Muslims in the Middle East or their predecessors 23 years ago who seized the United States embassy, students today are not seething with anger against America and are unmoved by the government's daily references to "the enemy" in Washington. "I think only about the consequences of a war. If the war has good consequences, let it be," said another student, Mohammad. "We're not protesting like European students. We don't have a democratic government like they do. We're not acting like them because we're not in European shoes." Politically incorrect attitudes on campus are not helping calm the nerves of the country's conservative leadership, which appears genuinely concerned at the implications of "regime change" next door.