Not Willing To Be In "The Coalition Of The Willing"

What Would Have Happen If We Had Been In Iraq? As for one of a politician’s distinguishing characteristics, it is speaking half-truths or no truth, because his goal is to run the ship, i.e. getting support from society for policies he finds appropriate. The reason I am recalling this truth once again is the unbelievable statements Prime Minister Erdogan made to convince opponents, particularly those in his own party, to send troops to the UN peace forces in Lebanon. The statements the Prime Minister made at the JD Party”s MKYK meeting and which were published in the newspapers on August 17th are as follows: "Developments are occurring around us that are of great interest to us... If we want to have a say in the region, we can’t sit in the audience; we have to be at the table on stage... If we had been in Iraq, we would have had a say. You only have control when you have a say. For this reason we have to be at the table. Think now, if we had been there, would the PKK be in Northern Iraq?... Look at Iraq. A Sunni-Shiite war is going on that has almost brought the country to the threshold of division... If we had been there, there would have been no Sunni-Shiite war... At least no one would have died in the region we were in." The Prime Minister’s words have nothing to do with the truth for these reasons: [snip] Had the TSK entered Iraq with the March 1st memorandum, Turkey would have taken part in what UN General Secretary Kofi Annan called the "illegal" occupation of Iraq and would have been treated as "occupation forces" by the Iraqis. Just like American, British and other foreign soldiers (that were forced to leave), Turkish troops would have been the target of Sunni resistance groups and Shiite rebels. Al Kaida wouldn’t have hesitated to do its worst against Turkey. Why should Turkey, a close ally of the US and Israel, be treated any differently? If Turkey is respected today in the Arab world, it’s not because the people are Muslim, but because it refused to cooperate with the US in the invasion of Iraq. If today all Arabs, including the Hezbollah, support Turkey’s participating in the Lebanese peace force, it’s because the Turkish Parliament showed the world that it would not cooperate with the US under all conditions. [snip] In order to be a "party at the table," it’s necessary to be a party wanted on the stage. Because the US isn’t a party wanted on the stage, even if it sits at the "head of the table," it is completely helpless in Iraq. The party in control in Iraq is Iran, who’s not even on the stage. Situations imposed with armed force will boomerang. While attempting to establish an administration in Iraq that is friendly to America and favorable to Israel, the "head of the table" Bush Administration has raised enmity against the US and Israel to a peak. A government protecting the interests of Turkey has to remain distant in its relations with this US and this Israel. Source Zaman Online markfromireland