Erdogan Rebuffs U.S. While Protesting `Propaganda' Turkey Is Iranian Ally

This is a spectacular overview of the "new" Turkey. Very informative and a glimpse into the new developing dynamic...

BP Begins Big Push To Revive Iraq's Oil

Iraq's Rumaila oilfield

I've been advocating for bringing in Western oil companies into Iraq for quite some time to stablize Iraq; the main question is will they be able to secure the main pipelines from Kirkuk to Baghdad, Mosul to Baghdad, and Baghdad to Basra. If they do this then Iraq can expand its pipelines even more. The great thing is there is a mountain range between Iraq and Iran making pipelines into Iran cost-prohibitive. If Iran wanted to pay for one though, why not push for it? It could be one concession to Iran and if we supported it they might start to treat us with a little more respect? Also, pushing for a trans-Turkey pipeline from Mosul could be spectacular. But, as I've said, they need to secure the three main pipelines first...

Broke? Buy a Few Warships, France Tells Greece

Here Greece, buy some warships to settle the Cyprus issue with our NATO ally Turkey. Great.

Greece spends more of its gross domestic product on the military than any other European Union country, largely due to long-standing tension with its neighbor, historic rival and NATO ally, Turkey.

"The Germans and the French have them over a barrel now," said Nick Witney, a former head of the European Defence Agency. "If you are trying to repair Greek public finances, it's a ludicrous way to go about things."

France is pushing to sell six frigates, 15 helicopters and up to 40 top-of-the-range Rafale fighter aircraft.

Greek and French officials said President Nicolas Sarkozy was personally involved and had broached the matter when Papandreou visited France last month to seek support in the financial crisis.

Kurdish, once banned, to be taught in Turkey

This is a huge step towards normalizing relations between the Turks and Kurds. If they come to a peace, it is good for us as well since we could then totally back the Kurds in Iraq without angering our NATO ally Turkey...

Speaking Kurdish was banned in Turkey until 1991.

Prodded by the European Union, which has been pressing Turkey to strengthen Kurdish rights, the country has allowed private language schools to teach Kurdish, and some Kurdish-language radio and TV to operate. In January, the government launched a 24-hour state-run Kurdish television station.

In a gesture to the minority Kurds, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also uttered a few words in Kurdish on the day the station was launched.

Support the Kurds...

I've said this before, but I'm a fan of the Kurds. They love us.


If we keep our NATO ally Turkey out of their hair, I have no doubt that they will be able to create a safe Kurdistan; the main question then is, can we accept the tactics they will use to do this?

PKK leader offers Turkey an olive branch to end war

According to Murad Karayilan, acting head of the PKK due to Adullah Ocalan's imprisonment, “Kurds do not want to continue the war. We believe we can solve the Kurdish question without spilling more blood. We are ready for a peaceful and democratic solution in Turkey — to be solved."

“Britain accepted the will of the Scots by giving them a parliament of their own, and that’s what the Turks have to do with us,” Mr Karayilan said at the meeting with The Times in a wooded valley near the Qandil mountains, an important PKK area. “I’ve studied Irish history and talked with people who participated in it. I know the development and stages of that struggle. Turkey needs to solve our problem in the way that the British solved that problem.”

Tensions Stoked Between Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis

There is no surprise here. As predicted, Northern Iraq is falling apart despite the great work Hannibal, Murdock, and B.A. Baracus, did up there in 2005-2006. Although it was recently viewed as a pleasant, up and coming area with a diverse population and a Whole Foods and Starbucks in every town, it is far from it.

American officials have long feared a military conflict in the north, where Arabs and Kurds have competing claims to territory and have legions of trained men under arms. The struggle for power has also fueled the insurgency in the north, giving groups like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia an opening to appear to back an Arab cause. And it comes as American combat troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June.

I have argued that this is mostly due to troop level drawdowns in the area. Anyhow, here is what I wrote on September 17, 2008:
U.S. Soldiers battling hard in Iraqi city

U.S. Soldiers battling hard in Iraqi city

Mosul went from having first the 3/2ID and then the 172nd SBCT from 2004-2006 patrolling its streets and managing violence to having only one battalion in late summer 2006... where was the 172nd SBCT sent? Baghdad.

Tal Afar, just 30 miles west of Mosul, went from having first COL(P) H.R. McMaster's 3rd ACR and then COL(P) Sean MacFarland's 1/1AD patrolling its streets and managing violence from 2004-2006 to having one battalion in 2006... where were these troops sent? Ramadi.

What cities are safer today than in 2006? Baghdad and Ramadi.

What cities are less safe today than in 2006? Mosul and Tal Afar.

What cities are next door to Kurdistan and Turkey? Mosul and Tal Afar.

What two entities have terroritorial claims/interests in Northern Iraq? Kurdistan and Turkey.

Is all of this coincidental? I think not.

Has the surge worked? See mixed results above...



The fact of the matter is we still need more troops to "win," even after the famed surge. Related, but a little off topic, I wanted to ask the question, "Whose side are we on when it comes to the Kurds and the Turks?" Turkey is not just any member of NATO, but an Arab member. Meanwhile, the Kurds, frankly, love us! They, to me, are as American as apple pie. We need to solve this problem before it comes down to the pro-American Kurds versus a NATO ally. Or perhaps we could leverage their mutual interests in Northern Iraq into two different "security" agreements whereby the Kurds and Turks manage Northern Iraq for us? I guarantee there would be less violence after the initial, using a phrase made famous by the Kagans, "brilliant offensive."

BP tests Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) line; oil flow to resume 'next week'

Hmmmmmmmm.............................

Another flub? Bush vowed Navy aid to Georgia too soon

Is Turkey really an ally of the United States? Why do we only speak to the government when we need something? Furthermore, with Turkey fighting Kurds in Northern Iraq, how is this different than Russians fighting Georgians in South Ossetia? Finally, what exactly has Turkey, a NATO ally, done for the United States of late? Here is an excerpt from the article above:

U.S. officials said the Turks hadn't cleared U.S. naval vessels to transit the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

"The Turks haven't been helpful," said a State Department official. "They are being sluggish and unresponsive."

The Russian invasion of Georgia has almost certainly unnerved Turkey because it has huge energy and trade interests in adjacent Central Asia.

Turkey also may be reluctant to jeopardize the $24 billion in annual trade it does with Russia, which provides around 70 percent of its natural gas supplies. The Turkish Navy also shares the Black Sea with Russia's powerful Black Sea Fleet, which in part has prompted Ankara in recent years to restrict U.S. and NATO naval operations and exercises there.

The current situation echoes the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, when the Bush administration tried to send thousands of U.S. troops into northern Iraq through Turkey — a Muslim nation where most people opposed the war — without first obtaining Ankara's permission.

The Turkish parliament refused to allow the United States to use its territory.