No, seriously: Turkey invading Kurdish Iraq is very, very, very bad.
On a scale of 1 to 10, it is Bad. It is a recipe for Bad Sandwich, preceded by Bad Salad and finishing with Bad Cobbler. It’s not Strong Bad, it’s just Bad Bad. It’s Baddosity-level is plus-twelve. Cinematically speaking, this is a Gigli-equivalent level of Bad.
It’s not good, is what I’m saying.
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OH SHIT.
That is all.
So let me see if I’m thinking through the implications, here. Presumably, this is going to be viewed as a threat to the soverignty of the (for lack of a better word) fledgling Iraq. After all, a nation that can’t defend its borders and citizens suddenly looks like prey. So the Turks will have to be repelled.
Except that America has done a pretty good job over the last few years of eviscerating the Iraqi military, and hasn’t rebuilt it very well yet. So in order to repel the Turks, American troops will have to take a direct hand in the fighting.
If American troops wind up fighting Turkish troops, that’s going to hurt not just the US/Turkey alliance (which has its own set of consequences, since the US stages a lot of operations out of Turkey), but could further antagonize other nations in the Middle East, none of whom are very happy with America as it stands now.
Not to mention, the above scenario assumes the Turkish troops are repelled relatively easily. If they have success in Iraq, suddenly the country looks, as stated above, like prey, and border nations start making grabs for territory–and with the US already stretched thin militarily, that could end with the dissolution of Iraq as a nation as other countries (like Iran and Turkey) simply swallow big chunks of it whole.
Did I miss anything?
“There’s a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into the country,” said Bush.
Oh, come now. It’s worked so well for you, W!
A story for which the stupid little name I chose for myself because I couldn’t think of anything better at the time seems at least partially appropriate.
What is Turkey doing shelling farms? IMO you do not target civilians, nor shoot at your enemies if there are civilians in the way, period.
I agree with Kevin. It strikes me as very hypocritical of Dubya to tell Turkey it would be wrong to invade a country or strike at it because there are terrorists attacking their interests from inside that country, when it pretty much endorsed Israel doing that when it was Hizballah in Lebanon, and when the U.S. itself is champing at the bit to attack Iran.
Much as I hate it when this happens, I am forced to agree with Bush on something. The timing of this resolution calling the prior actions of Turkey “genocide” could not be worse. I know that it happened before Turkey made noise about this invasion, but at this stage it might be prudent to…you know…put that resolution on the shelf for now and get back to it at some point after Turkey has calmed down. If they calm down.
Now, Russia has stated it’ll get involved if the U.S. attacks Iran, right? So what other powers might get involved in this case, if any?
“But the chances of such military action raises great concerns in the United States, which fears it would undermine the stability of the American-backed government in Baghdad”
Oh, I think the USA screwed the stability of the government in Baghdad all on its own.
I hope the Turks wipe out those Blackwater assholes.
“I hope the Turks wipe out those Blackwater assholes.”
The problem here is the same as when the U.S. initially invaded: if shots are fired, the non-assholes are gonna pay the price along with the assholes.