The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
October 19, 2007 Friday
Final Edition
Ominous signs remind of world 100 years ago
Pg. A14
President George Bush’s warning Wednesday that a nuclear-armed Iran
could result in the Third World War is worth noting.
In isolation, and considering such a conflict inevitably would
involve nuclear weapons, it sounds like the ravings of a madman. But
one must consider what else is happening in the Middle East, the U.S.
and around the world.
Military expert Michael Desch wrote this spring in the prestigious
Foreign Affairs journal that the U.S. military was at serious odds
with the White House over strategy, and Amsterdam-based military
historian Gabriel Kolko told Der Spiegel this week that senior
American officers were threatening to refuse to act if the
administration ordered them to attack Iran.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress considered but then backed away from
citing Turkey for the 1915 ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the
former Ottoman Empire. The move against a key NATO ally incensed the
Turks. This comes in a week when the Turkish parliament
overwhelmingly voted to give the country’s powerful military
carte-blanche to send forces across the Iraqi frontier, into a
country the U.S. has occupied since 2003.
The 509-19 vote, which was taken despite a specific warning from NATO
headquarters, is understandable. In the last few weeks, attacks that
originated in the Kurdish area of Iraq, have killed dozens of
soldiers and civilians in Turkey.
Turkey claims the right to protect itself against terrorism and has
complained that NATO has done nothing to help it respond to attacks
from the Kurdistan Workers Party. According to NATO General-Secretary
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, however, Turkey hasn’t invoked the clause in
alliance’s treaty that calls on members to come to the aid of an ally
under attack or requested military help. Turkey has been trying to
get into the European Union and until now has reigned-in its military
to ingratiate itself with its neighbours. But the decision in the
U.S. to press for recognition of the Armenian genocide has clearly
upset the nation, and military officials are threatening to close a
major American base and hinder access to Iraq.
The move by Congress comes after years of lobbying by Armenia’s
considerable diaspora living in the U.S. The irony is that, while
Turkey is a critical Western ally, Armenia increasingly is under
Russian influence. It depends on Russia for the military protection
of its borders with Turkey and neighbouring Azerbaijan, with which it
had a war in the 1990s.
Azerbaijan, however, was one of five Caspian nations to sign a mutual
defence agreement this week, in case any member was attacked. That
list includes Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Russia. Russian
President Vladimir Putin warned the world Iran has a right to its
nuclear program and any attempt to block it would be met with force.
Coming just weeks after Israel attacked a Syrian facility believed to
be involved in developing a nuclear program — considered a clear
signal to Iran about what’s in store should it get closer to building
a bomb — Russia’s warning needs to be taken seriously.
Of equal concern is the decision by China this week to pull out of
talks meant to defuse the Iran crisis. China is irate that the U.S.
dared to give the congressional gold medal to the Dalai Lama. Last
week China pulled out of human rights talks with Germany after that
country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, met with the Tibetan leader.
Except for the nuclear weapons, the world is looking more and more
like it did a century ago.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
