Roadblocks in Turkey

Negotiations over the use of Turkey bases for a northern assault on Iraq are causing all sorts of problems for American war planners. The impasse is regarded as a "potentially serious political calamity." The Guardian reports that this is screwing up the American timetable for war, as plans for an assault are being pushed back into March.

According to the Financial Times, Turkey's demand for a massive amount of financial compensation "has infuriated Bush administration officials, who say Ankara is seeking to exploit the Iraq crisis to address its financial needs."

To further complicate things, Newsweek reports that, as part of the negotiations with the US, "Turkey is demanding that it send 60,000 to 80,000 of its own troops into northern Iraq to establish 'strategic positions' across a 'security arc' as much as 140 to 170 miles deep in Iraq. That would take Turkish troops almost halfway to Baghdad." Considering Turkey's deplorable record on human rights towards its Kurdish minority, it's not surprising that the Kurdish population of northern Iraq (and much of southern Turkey) is alarmed about this development. Peter Galbraith writes in the NY Times that the Kurds are starting to realize that the US is about to "double-cross them" once again.