CUMHURIYET- Columnist and former Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel comments on Turkey’s stance on the Iraq war. A summary of his column is as follows:
The countries waging the unjust, immoral war on Iraq have found themselves in serious trouble. US and British forces have encountered great problems within Iraq’s territories. Both Bush and Blair, who have of late terrified the world with their aggressive posturing, are facing unexpected developments. They were hoping to end the Iraq war in very short order. However, they have failed, because all of their assumptions are one-by-one falling short. But what did they expect? Let’s diagnose this gap between expectations and reality.
Firstly, they were mistaken in their assumptions about possible reactions from both their own nations and the international community. Bush believed that he could easily persuade the American public on the legitimacy of such a war in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He planned to base his aggressive doctrine of preemption on the idea of ‘potential threats.’ However, he completely failed to predict the US’ ever-growing opposition to the war.
Secondly, the Bush administration believed that the Iraqi people were so eager to get rid of Saddam Hussein and his oppressive regime that they would welcome their US ‘liberators.’ He thought that the Iraqi people would shower the US Army with garlands and not stand in its way. In addition, Bush’s assumption that Turkey’s support was a done deal also failed. The AKP government found that it couldn’t turn a blind eye to the overwhelming antiwar sentiment of the Turkish public. Our Parliament did not allow Turkish soil to become a US base in this war.
What might happen in the near future?
If US and British forces fail to capture Baghdad relatively quickly or the Iraqi resistance persists, the alliance will encounter even larger problems in the future. The Bush administration will have to destroy the country using a harsher military operation, one actually supposed to liberate its people. After such a war, there might be nothing left to be liberated. Under such circumstances, the US and British plans for postwar Iraq will fail utterly and a new world order will come in its wake. Ultimately, in the long run, the Bush administration and its supporters are very likely to be the losers.
Turkey should consider what might happen after the war. First, our country should take measures to cushion us from the war’s blows. Turkey should provide Iraqi refugees with humanitarian aid in northern Iraq and try to prevent a rush towards its borders. However, we should also plan how Turkey can play a positive part in the war scenarios, in our role as a country which is committed to the rule of law and democracy. Future developments after the war in the long run are more important than the conflict itself.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION