Turkey

[El Blanco]

No, not the bird that makes a yummy feast on thanks giving.

The country that is providing us with major logistical support in the Middle East and Central Asia. They also seemed to be mounting an offensive into the most stable region in Iraq because a terrorist organization is using it as a staging area for hit-n-run attacks. Turkey has amassed about 60,000 troops along its border with Iraq. Over the weekend attacks from the PKK left a few dozen troops dead or missing. Understandably, the Turks are ready to stomp some skulls over this.

Of course, there is also the small complication of the US House of Representatives passing a non-binding resolution that seems to be holding the current Turkish government responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in 1915. This was actually carried out by the Ottoman Empire, not the current governing body of Turkey. And since this non-binding resolution holds no real legal weight, it seems to only serve as an insult to one of our most important allies. Am I the only one not shocked by the fact that this is one of Speaker Pelosi's pet projects?

yes, I'm well aware of how the Turks have dealt with the Armenians and Kurds up to this point. I'm not absolving them of any guilt, but when does practicality come into play?

[Perndog]

In keeping with Hanlon's Razor, I want to think the House are just a bunch of nearsighted and clueless jackasses for doing something like this. But the timing is way too precisely bad.

If I wanted to find something sinister in their motives I would ask, how in the world does something like this come up on the agenda? A non-binding resolution condemning an action almost a century ago by a now nonexistent regime? Doesn't Congress have actual, you know, WORK to do? Or do they have a list of things like this that they make time for every now and then, like "October is non-binding resolution season! This year, we've decided the Ottomans were jerks in 1915!. Next year, we're going to think about whether Stalin was a jerk too!"

[El Blanco]

I don't think its sinister like "we are going to do everything we can to cause US operations to fail". I think thats just the result of this.

She wanted to be in the forefront and show the democrats are tough on terror and have a foreign policy. She and those that voted with this just happen to be ill sighted and probably retarded. They went to appease a vocal interest group, show they aren't a bunch of pussies, and now this macho bullshit attempt is going to bite us in the ass.

Didn't someone's aid point out how 90% of our supplies and equipment travel through Turkey? Or that this current government has nothing to do with what happened almost 100 years ago? and that maybe you can't call out Bush for insulting and alienating other nations when you do shit like this?

What do we do with the Turks now? We can't have them rolling into Northern Iraq, destabilizing the area. They certainly have a right to stop terrorists from jumping in and attacking their people. Can we really put this on the Iraqi government without getting heavy handed with the Turks?

We need support of the Turks and Kurds. If the Turks do cross, what do we do?

What will that opportunistic fucker Putin do when he sees this going on in his back yard?

[Preechr]

I disagree about the resolution. I believe that this is just the latest of the increasingly blatant measures being taken by Democrats to throw a monkey wrench into the war effort, and I think what they are doing is unconscionable if not downright traitorous. Outright pull the funding if your goal is to end the war... when you stoop to sabotage, you are aiding the enemy.

[Geggy]

Originally Posted by El Blanco

We need support of the Turks and Kurds. If the Turks do cross, what do we do?

why, we bomb them, of course. the kurds, i mean, not the turks..

[Geggy]

hey guys remember this? its deja vu all over again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071022...n_071022131352

[El Blanco]

Do you ever have any fucking clue as to what you or anyone else is talking about?

I directly referenced the attacks over the weekend. The strain the situation puts on our relationship with Turkey is the whole fucking point of the thread.

[Sethomas]

I had a "Libertarian" friend (self-loathing Republican) who claimed strong ties to his Armenian heritage. We'd call him "Turkey McTurkturk" to rile him up.

I wonder how he feels amidst all this.

[Geggy]

El Blanco... tell me...why is all of this new to you? If you had read everything i've posted up to date on what the true US agenda is, being involved with deceptive practices, supporting militants who are then called terrorists, you wouldnt be shocked by all of this. whats taking so long for you to realize this?

[El Blanco]

Christ, here we go again.

evil shadow governments, controlled demolitions, grassy knolls, fake terrorists, no Holocaust blah blah blah

[Emu]

Geggy just wants really really bad to be living in a 90's action movie. I think that's the reasoning behind all of the conspiracy nuts.

[Preechr]

Yet every time a bell rings in America, another Geggy is born.

What's that say about the state of our nation and it's views toward our government?

[El Blanco]

The US has always had issues trusting our government. We were born out a violent revolution. We've had a full blown civil war. The only politicians we ever seem to like are the dead ones.

We've also always had nut cases that take everything to the extreme. the big thing now is that the internet lets them yell louder. And little communities where than can huddle up with their own kind and reinforce each other's delusions.