October 15, 2007
Mmmmmm Turkey…
OK, it’s time to talk Turkey.
I know I hate when the Thanksgiving decorations go up before Halloween is over, but since that holiday’s delicacy’s namesake is busy in the news right now, I’ll make an exception just this once.
It seems the Turks are upset with just about everyone and while they’re not really gonna be a part of the coalition of the willing, they are getting ready to send troops into Iraq. The Turkish government is about to approve military incursions into our occupied turf to take on a pesky group of Kurdish separatists who want to set up their own Kurdistan in the east of Turkey.
The Kurdish rebels are hiding out in a mountainous border region (hey that sounds familiar) and attacking Turkey’s military with guerilla tactics. They get support of one kind or another from the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. Those would be the same semi-autonomous Kurds who’ve at times talked of splitting off from Iraq. Then there’s the Kurds up in that part of Iran, what happens when they join in on all the fun?
If reports are to be believed, the Kurds in the north of Iraq are the best trained of the Iraqi forces and that region has been the most stable in recent times, so they’ll probably fight back if Turkey continues to shell their villages and starts pouring in the troops. So, that’d mean Iraq and Turkey were fighting and we’re right there in the neighborhood. Do the U.S. troops come to the aid of the Iraqi’s who we just liberated, or our NATO ally Turkey?
That quandary’s plenty complex, but now Congress is going and making it all the more difficult. The House of Representatives is considering a vote on a resolution condemning the genocide of 1.5 million Armenian people during World War I by the pre-Turkey Ottoman Empire. It’s a horrible and somehow somewhat unknown tragedy and it certainly deserves attention and condemnation. To this day Turkey disputes the ideas this was a genocide, and they’ve threatened diplomatic trouble if this resolution is approved.
Our Fine President is quite upset by this prospect. Sure he acknowledges the events as “historic mass killings” but officially calling it genocide might lead to Turkey refusing the US access to its military bases and airspace. That would hinder the Iraq war effort by cutting off a key supply line and it could make the war effort more expensive and difficult to continue. The Democrats pushing the Armenian vote certainly know this, and that leads me to ask the same question as Our Fine President; why now?
Are the Democrats using the Armenian genocide as a backdoor way to end the Iraq war? It certainly seems to be the case, and if true, it really only confirms that this party doesn’t have the ability to stand up for what it believes and tackle problems in a straightforward manner. if they did, the Democrats would simply use the power they have with control of Congress to cut off the special funding bills Our Fine President has been using to fund the war. Instead, they seem to be trying to take advantage of a tragedy as a back door that simply makes the war effort more difficult and makes it easier for critics to bring out the “they want us to lose” accusations.
But still, it’s not as if Turkey is being all big and mature about things either. Those huffy Turks are bent out of shape about a toothless scolding for atrocities that are almost a century old. It’s not as if Congress is calling for tribunals and investigations. The club of nations with a genocidal history is actually quite large, and not all the members make shame their national pastime.
So, Congress, grow up and if you oppose the war, do your job and cut off the money like the Constitution told you, Turkey work out a solution to have someone else hunt the Kurdish rebels in Iraq and come to terms with your national heritage. Let’s all take a deep breath, settle down and maybe we can keep that region of the world from completely falling apart.