Somthing To Chew On ----
From a recent interview with Noam Chomsky in a Turkish paper:
Question: As you know the second memorandum which would let American troops pass through Turkey was rejected in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Turkey didn't join the invasion of Iraq with America. Can this be the begining of the cold term relationships between America and Turkey as it is widely claimed?
Answer: Washington and US elites were infuriated that the Turkish government took the same position as 95% of the population rather than following orders. The influential Pentagon planner Paul Wolfowitz even went so far as to condemn the Turkish military for its weakness in permitting the government to conform to the will of the population. This was one element of an extraordinary demonstration of bitter of hatred and contempt for democracy, without any counterpart that I can recall. Attitudes towards democracy were also demonstrated with unusual clarity in the distinction that was drawn between "Old Europe" and "New Europe," the former bitterly condemned, the latter praised. The distinguishing criterion was sharp and clear: the governments of "Old Europe" took the same stand as the great majority of their populations, and were therefore reviled; the leaders of "New Europe" overrode even larger majorities (as in Spain and Italy) and took their orders from Crawford Texas, and were therefore hailed for their courage and grand qualities. Meanwhile media and intellectuals were proclaiming their deep commitment to democracy and intentions of establishing it throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. This has been a most remarkable performance. George Orwell would have observed it with astonishment. To anyone capable of thinking, the performance explains rather clearly what "democracy" means in
the elite intellectual culture in the US (and the West generally): democracy
is fine, as long as you do what we we say.
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Is it possible the whole Turkish play was a diversion to make Saddam think we wouldn't attack him until those troops had landed, whereupon, in attacking without them, we achieved strategic and tactical surprise, thereby saving American lives?
You heard the media reports of unprepared Iraqi positions, troops out of place, etc.
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