Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Turkey, Israel and American Power

Whenever I worry about the fiasco in Iraq and what it means for the standing of America in the world, I need to remember things like the current situation between Turkey and Kurdistan. Kurdish terrorists have attacked and killed a number of Turkish troops. And the U.S. has asked Turkey not to move their army into Kurdistan (a.k.a. North Iraq)... and Turkey is complying! Whoa. Even though Turkey could tell the U.S. to take a flying leap, they ain't, probably because it's not worth it to get on the wrong side of America in an armed conflict, no matter who you are. And even if we won't go after Turkey militarily, we're still mighty enough that a country will think twice about defending itself when America asks them to.

It reminds me of Israel in the first Gulf War. Israel was getting shot at and America asked them not to respond... and Israel complied. And, to some extent, the Second Lebanon War was the same thing (except that Dick Cheney - high on paint thinner - told Israel to just go ahead and pound Lebanon).

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