Since the ultimate Kurdish aim is independence, the autonomous Kurdish authority in Northern Iraq has boisterously supported the PKK. Despite that PKK wants an independent Kurdish state with Marxist-Leninist ideals, this does not bother the Kurdish government in Northern Iraq as their ends certainly justify the means, even if it means killing Kurdish and Turkish civilians and soldiers alike in Turkey. Nonetheless, if such an independence were to take place, the independent Kurdistan would be nothing but a proxy state of the U.S..
The weapons that were captured from the PKK terrorists are all “Made in USA”. These guys are no longer fighting with 50 year old AK-47s. They have Stinger missiles, G-3s, M-3s, remote detonators for landmines, etc.. These are NATO weapons for crying out loud. If Turkey is a U.S. ally, why is the Bush Administration indirectly supporting a Marxist-Leninist Kurdish terror organization logistically for the sake of relative "peace" in Iraq, when it is for sure that Kirkuk is ticking ethnic time bomb for the Turkomans, Kurds and Arabs? What are American weapons doing in the hands of these terrorists? Is the U.S. political support to the Kurds worth alienating and most likely loosing the only U.S. ally in the region and a NATO member ?
It would have been the best if Saddam Hussein remained in power. He was a sadist dictator but at least there was some order in the country and Iraq was not a direct exporter of terror to its neighbors. Needless to say, this is utopian dream since we all know that the only reason for the war in Iraq was oil.
The Turks used to be one of the most pro-American people in the world, but thanks to the fantastically stupid policy-making of the Bush Administration, the U.S. popularity level is at sub-zero levels. I do not want to go ahead and say ‘the Turks hate America”, because ‘hate’ is a very strong word. However, at present the popularity of the U.S. in Turkey is a notch below North Korea.
The U.S. government has to make a decision now. Either they will support the Kurds in Northern Iraq which will lead to their eventual independence and trigger Turkish, Iranian and Syrian attacks (Iran and Syria have the same problem) in Northern Iraq or they will side with the Turks, their only democratic Muslim ally and the second largest army in NATO. I truly hope that the would not have to fight against the Americans in Northern Iraq if the Americans side with the Kurds, otherwise Turkey will be irreversibly lost forever.
The biggest test lies ahead of us. The PKK terrorism is a clear and present danger for Turkey, despite that the Bush Administration underestimates the menace since there are much interested in the boogey-man who lives in a cave in Afghanistan and releases more video tapes than Paris Hilton’s sexcapades. The Turks are getting used to let go of the 60 year old Turkish-American alliance if the U.S. does not cut its active support to the PKK and Iraqi Kurds aspirations of independence.
I pray that this will not happen. The U.S. and Turkey both need each other diplomatically and politically.
On the American side, common sense is not as common as it should be when it comes to international diplomacy thanks to utter failure of the Bush Administration. The Americans were simply too trigger-happy, which is not surprising, because when the only tool you have is a hammer, you start seeing everything around you like a nail.
We obviously cannot curb the terror in Iraq and our failure to tackle it has begun to already destabilize our ally. Let the Turks solve their own problem, and help themselves to eradicate the PKK menace across their border.
posted by elturcoloco 
