By Mehmet Ali Birand
TDN- It appears that the American people are happy with President George W. Bush. Despite the war in Iraq, the recession in the economy, the conservative values coming to the fore and the winds of nationalism sweeping the nation, they chose Bush.
Some are wondering how things could reach this point. Let's just ignore the past and concentrate on the future.
Ankara is happy with the results. It sees no reason to be upset about cooperating with Bush, whom it knows. There was a crisis in the beginning on the U.S. troop deployment in Turkey, but when Bush attended the summit in Istanbul, he knew much more about the country. Under these conditions, Ankara is pleased to have the opportunity to do business with the experienced Bush, rather than Kerry, who was going to start from zero. It will also breathe a sigh of relief on the Armenian issue. The topics that will dominate the bilateral relationship will be the developments in Iraq, especially northern Iraq and Palestine.
I expect Bush to reassess his policy on Iraq and change his attitude. This change does not go as far as the U.S. withdrawing from Iraq, but it will definitely result in a policy change, which will create stability in Iraq. He has no other option.
The United States cannot tolerate a repeat of the mistakes the administration made up until now in Iraq. Even if the Bush administration wants to follow the same route, various forces within the United States won't permit it. The U.S. system has its safeguards to fine-tune such policies.
Another thing I expect to happen is for the Bush administration to start to cooperate with the United Nations and the international community and try to smooth over their differences.
My only fear is that Bush might take a more aggressive stance with respect to Iran. Even if the military option is out of the question, such a crisis will create serious tension in the region.
In other words, the next four years will also be very hard.
Military's messages to EU
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug's press conference on Tuesday surprised many. The Office of the Chief of General Staff had stopped holding press conferences for the last three months. This was linked to the office's sensitivity about being seen as adhering to the Copenhagen criteria. One of the most important articles of the criteria called for the military to stop making such statements, no matter how much the topic in question would be limited to security. And there was also Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok's statement at the Republican Day reception at Cankaya Palace on Oct. 29, where he said, "We need to be very careful not to make any mistakes until Dec. 17."
Something happened, however, and the Office of the Chief of Staff recommenced its monthly press briefings. Soon after phone began ringing in many European Union capitals, trying to find out what this really meant.
To tell you the truth, we also wondered what this was all about.
Gen. Basbug's briefing was on security and domestic and foreign affairs. However, the sentence which I took notice of the most could have summarized the military's attitude towards the EU: "The Turkish Armed Services [TSK] sees EU membership as a tool for realizing Ataturk's objective to modernize."
This sentence shows that the TSK is in support of Turkey's EU membership.
Will the mafia be cleansed?
When I read newspapers, I am amazed at what I read.
I knew about it, but I never imagined it was so widespread.
Just look at this.
Sedat Peker has infiltrated the roots of the police department. He is able to transfer whoever he wants anywhere he wishes. He is able to ask favors from colonels in the Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-terrorism (JITEM) organization, make prosecutors and judges do whatever he wants and influence the bureaucracy.
Haluk Kirci is able to use his own photo to get an official green passport and easily flee overseas.
Alaattin Cakici is something else. He is able to mingle freely with the judiciary, police and National Intelligence Organization (MIT). He can even flee the country with the help of a person working for MIT.
Moreover, all this is being done in the name of the country and the nation.
One fought against Armenian terrorist, and the other courageously fought (!) against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) terrorism. All, directly or indirectly, worked for the state. The police, the military and MIT were involved in these matters as intermediaries.
It appears that the state granted certain privileges to these people it used. The Susurluk scandal was not investigated as wholeheartedly as it should have been. It should be investigated in such a way that nothing is left unturned and everything becomes public knowledge. If not, we will never get rid of these mafia leaders.