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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (176088)	10/6/2003 1:30:46 PM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577009

I'm guessing here but I think the cause of this huge slippage between the two cultures was religious in nature. I have a real sense of ambivalence about religion. On the one hand it has been the root of millenia of human stupidity and divisiveness...on the other, there are people who need a moral compass and find comfort in it. I personally think that you can be a good person without it. Al

To: tejek who wrote (176088)	10/6/2003 4:36:55 PM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577009

Turkey has a long history of conquest in Iraq, besides, the Kurds hate the Turks. Am I off the mark, or do you also think this will backfire? I wonder what your ME course professor thinks? Al ======================================================== Turkey set for Iraq mission The US is said to have requested 10,000 Turkish troops The Turkish Government has decided to send troops to Iraq, in response to a request by the United States. The decision - which must be ratified in parliament - was announced by government spokesman Cemil Cicek after a cabinet meeting on Monday. It is not clear how many troops are to be sent and for how long they will stay in Iraq - government officials earlier said the US had requested about 10,000 troops. Washington welcomed Ankara's move, with State Department spokesman Richard Boucher expressing hopes that the Turkish parliament would clear the path for the deployment. "Turkey has an important role to play in stabilising Iraq. We continue our discussions with Turkish authorities on the details of possible deployment if parliament endorses the government's request," Mr Boucher said. The United Nations Security Council is meeting again on Monday to consider a US draft resolution on Iraq which ran into trouble last week. The draft resolution calls for the political transition to be as quick as possible and urges member states to contribute to a multinational force. But the text was criticised by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and permanent members France, Russia and China, who said the resolution must give the UN a greater political role in Iraq. Strained ties There are almost daily demonstrations in Turkey against sending troops to Iraq, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports from the capital, Ankara. He says all eyes will now be on the Turkish parliament, which surprised many in March when it refused to let US troops use Turkish territory in the run-up to the war in Iraq. "We hope that they stay for less than one year," Mr Cicek told reporters. Many Turks opposed the war in Iraq He voiced confidence that parliament would give the green light this time. "Had we any doubts, we wouldn't be sending this motion," Mr Cicek said. "Our desire is for parliament to consider the motion tomorrow." Our correspondent says Turkey wants to repair its relationship with the United States, badly damaged before and during the Iraq war. If the deployment is approved, Turkey will become the third largest provider of troops in Iraq and the first mainly Muslim nation to join the US-led operation. US forces are suffering mounting casualties from daily hit-and-run attacks in Iraq, blamed on Saddam Hussein loyalists and foreign Arab militants. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the US it risks creating a haven for Islamic militants in Iraq. In an interview with the New York Times newspaper, he said that without rapid action to restore sovereignty and enlist UN support, Iraq would face a situation like that in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Kurdish rebels Monday's decision was made possible after last week's agreement between Turkey and the US on an action plan to eradicate the separatist paramilitary Kurdistan Workers' Party. 1. Sunni triangle: Includes Falluja where anti-American feeling is strong, and Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit 2. Baghdad: Several shooting, grenade and RPG attacks 3. Northern Iraq:Two attacks in Mosul area followed deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons 4. Majar al Kabir: Six British soldiers killed in June attack following a demonstration The group - formerly known as the PKK and now called Kadek - is thought to have around 5,000 members living in northern Iraq. US officials did not rule out the use of force to remove what was described as the threat posed to Turkey by the Kurdish rebels. Ever since the US occupied Iraq, Turkey has been pressing Washington to crack down on the group, which both countries designate as "terrorist". Last month, the US agreed to lend Turkey $8.5bn as compensation for the damage its economy suffered during the Iraq war. But both the US and Turkey deny any link between the loan and the question of Turkish troop deployment. Many Iraqi Kurds suspect Turkey of seeking to thwart their decades-old push for greater independence, while Ankara wants to prevent any resurgence of separatist violence on its soil.