Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (50083)	2/22/2008 9:24:59 AM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542920

I wonder what implementation of the cut and run plans being offered will result in. There are two decisions to be critiqued (sp?). The first is the decision to go to Iraq. The second is what to do in 2008. The two are separate and distinct. Dwelling on the first and ignoring the second is not productive.

To: epicure who wrote (50083)	2/22/2008 9:50:08 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542920

Turkey launches ground operation in Iraq By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 39 minutes ago Here's the NYTimes version of that story this morning. ------------- The New York Times February 23, 2008 Turkish Military Tells of Incursion Into Iraq By SABRINA TAVERNISE Turkey’s military said it had sent ground troops into northern Iraq Thursday night, in an operation aimed at weakening Kurdish militants there, but it was unclear how many or how long they would stay. The Turkish General Staff, in an announcement on its Web site on Friday, gave no details on the size of the incursion. An American military spokesman in Baghdad said the ground offensive would be of “limited duration.” The Turkish offensive appeared aimed at dealing a surprise blow to the Kurdish militants, the Kurdistan Workers Party, before the snow along the mountainous border between the two counties melts and the guerrillas make their traditional spring advance into Turkey. The militants, known as the P.K.K. want greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish minority and have fought the Turkish military for decades. Some of their hideouts are in Turkey, but some are in northern Iraq, and the rebels have crossed the border into Turkey repeatedly to attack. It was not clear what role the United States had played in the incursion. But it sets two of its closest allies in a troubled region against each other. Turkey is a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria; the Iraqi Kurds, who control northern Iraq, are the most important American partners in the Iraq war. The United States controls the airspace over Iraq, and the Bush administration agreed to share information and to open the airspace to the Turkish military last year, after the Kurdish group intensified its attacks on Turkish soil. Turkey began bombing Kurdish targets in northern Iraq in December, in operations that were largely allowed by the United States, which, like Turkey, considers the P.K.K. a terrorist organization. Until now, Turkish attacks have been limited to bombings in remote areas, though there have been repeated, unconfirmed reports of small troop incursions. It was unclear how a major ground offensive, however narrowly focused, would complicate relations, in particular between the United States and Iraq’s Kurds. Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who is the Iraqi president, and Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdish north, will face local pressure to react. Early American reactions struck troubled tones. A deputy assistant secretary of state, Matthew Bryza, speaking in Brussels, said the incursion was “not the greatest news,” Reuters reported, and added that “a land operation is a whole new level.” Still, a flurry of high-level military visits in recent weeks — including one this month by Gen. Ergun Saygun, Turkey’s deputy chief of the military to Washington, where he met Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The military said troops would return, “as soon as planned goals are achieved,” and said that the reason for the operation was to “prevent the region from being a permanent and safe base for the terrorists.” Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting. nytimes.com