Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
October 19, 2007 Friday
A foreign policy turkey
Just as it appears the United States may have turned an important
corner in Iraq with the reported disabling of al-Qaida, Turkey is
threatening to invade northern Iraq in an attempt to stop attacks by
Kurdish rebels on Turkish territory.
House Democrats added fuel to the combustible situation when the
House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 10 passed a resolution that
recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. The resolution is opposed by the Bush
administration, not necessarily because it disagrees that genocide
occurred nearly a century ago, but because such a resolution will
inflame passions at a time when there are passions enough in the
neighborhood. Democrats, who control Congress, are playing a
dangerous game that might severely damage America’s foreign policy,
further diminish President Bush, hand over a weakened presidency to
his successor and put more of our troops in jeopardy. That reality
apparently began to reach the Democratic congressional leadership by
midweek, as supporters of the resolution began a retreat and senior
Democrats urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to drop her support for
the measure.
Since Saddam Hussein was toppled from power, Turkey has been
threatening to invade northern Iraq to settle old scores. Turkey has
the provocation it believes it needs in the killing of 30 Turkish
soldiers and civilians by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(known as the PKK) in just the past two weeks.
Writing in the publication "Insight," Gallia Lindenstrauss notes,
"(Turkish) President Abdullah Gul accused American politicians of
sacrificing big issues for petty games of domestic politics." That
sounds about right. Are Democrats so cynical that they would stir an
already boiling pot in hopes that it would negate whatever success
America may finally be having in quelling terrorist acts in Iraq? One
would hope that is not the case, but given their leadership’s
rhetoric about the war already being lost and their refusal to
acknowledge even the slightest progress in Iraq as positive lest it
reflect well on the Bush administration, cynicism about their cynical
actions might be justified.
If Turkey will not be dissuaded from entering Iraq to root out the
rebels, the Bush administration might consider helping the Turks do
the job quickly and as painlessly as possible so that they might
hastily return to their side of the border. If the Kurds wish to
continue with their prosperous and more peaceful lifestyles, they
will help locate and expunge the rebels among them. The last thing
the region needs is to inflame Islamic fundamentalists, who, despite
tensions that have long threatened to topple Ankara’s secular
government, have so far managed to coexist peacefully with moderate
Muslims, as well as secularists.
A senior commander of the rebel group, Duran Kalkan, was quoted in an
Associated Press story as saying the Turkish military will suffer a
serious blow if it launches a cross-border offensive and would be
"bogged down in a quagmire." Another quagmire is precisely what is
not needed in Iraq. Oil prices, which have increased in recent days
in anticipation of Turkish military action, would go even higher
should another front be opened in Iraq.
There should be no rush to condemn a genocide that took place more
than nine decades ago (and the very word "genocide" is in dispute as
a description of what happened). Politically it might play well for
Democrats, but it could backfire and have severe repercussions for
American foreign policy, American forces in Iraq (supply lines could
be disrupted) and American interests in Iraq and throughout the
region for years to come. The next president cannot possibly enjoy
long-term benefits from such shortsightedness by House Democrats.
Whatever immediate political gain Democrats might hope to extract
from this misguided and ill-timed resolution will be overcome by the
long-term pain it generates. Apparently there are limits beyond which
even Democrats are not willing to go in their pursuit of political
gain. There are some issues that ought to transcend partisanship, and
this is one of them.
Tribune Media Services
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
