Terrorists using Iraq as a launching ground for terrorism

[ck4829]

And the Bush Administration doesn't want Turkey, the country being attacked, to engage them. Is this a break from the we-gonna-get-them-before-they-get-us Bush Doctrine or what?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday cautioned Turkey against sending troops into northern Iraq, as it has threatened, to hunt down Kurdish rebels it accuses of carrying out terrorist raids inside Turkey.

"We hope there would not be a unilateral military action across the border into Iraq," Gates told a news conference after meetings here with Asian government officials. Turkey and Iraq were not represented.

Gates said he sympathized with the Turks' concern about cross-border raids by Kurdish rebels.

"The Turks have a genuine concern with Kurdish terrorism that takes place on Turkish soil," he said. "So one can understand their frustration and unhappiness over this. Several hundred Turks lose their lives each year, and we have been working with the Turks to try to help them get control of this problem on Turkish soil."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. There are terrorists and there are terrorists

The Kurds are not al-Qaeda.

You know that the Kurds, who live in both Turkey and Iraq, have been calling for an independent state for decades. And the Turks have been putting down the Kurds from long before the Iraq mess happened. Bush fears that if Turkey does crack down, the Iraqi Kurds will leave the government and decide to start their own war of independence, which will include their Turkish brethren.

[ck4829]

2. They're talking about the PKK specifically

While the Kurds should have an independent state, the PKK has killed many civilians in terrorist attacks.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Thanks for the information

but I think Bush doesn't care about the PKK, only al-Qaeda. And he doesn't want the Iraq government disintegrating.