140,000 Turkish Troops Massed on Iraq's N. Border --What Does That Mean? LINK

[Blackhatjack]

http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fs%2Fap%2F20070709%2Fap_on_re_mi_ea%2Firaq_turkey_1

That number is almost equal to the troops the US has in Iraq(155,000).

A couple of days ago the Turkish Defense Minister asked for permission to conduct military operations 'inside' Iraq.

Turkey is one of our allies, and is strategically situated as far as the US conducting any military operation against Iran.

Turkey has demanded a price for cooperating with the US in the past. It is unlikely that Turkey would mass 140,000 fully armed troops on the northern border without US knowledge and consent.

So what does this mean?

A couple of guesses.

If Turkey believes the Iraqi Al Maliki Government is going to dissolve on or before July 15(the date a no confidence vote is scheduled), they may be expecting massive chaos to spill over the Kurdish border into Turkey. But then how would that square with the Turkish Defense Minister's request?

Or if the United States and/or Israel does plan to initiate an attack on Iran, then the US attention on the Kurdish border would be markedly less, and the Turks are preparing in advance to meet any incursions 'into Turkey.' But if that is the case, why post 140,000 fully armed troops to prevent an incursion into Turkey? THat number might be more appropriate if you planned to support a push into Iraq.

Admittedly this is the modern day version of 'reading tea leaves.' However, in the military world, troop movements ALWAYS have a purpose.

[roamer65]

1. It means that Turkey...

will not allow an independent Kurdistan, backed up by billions in oil revenue, to occur. It's that simple.

[mod mom]

2. and it aids the * cabal in keeping the US from leaving and to remain involved

with regional conflictS.

[blitzen]

3. more likely, they're contemplating a strike against Kurdish separatists...

There's a lot of pressure in Turkey for the government to take pre-emptive action against the PKK--whom they regard (with some justification, in terms of their causing deaths of innocent civilians in the 80s and 90s) they way most Americans regard Bin Laden.

[Dhalgren]

4. At this point I am not so sure that Turkey would require US approval for its actions.

I think that the Turks have not been impressed with the US handling of Iraq thus far. I think that they intend to go into Iraq and clean out the PKK, or whichever Kurdish group is blowing things up in Turkey. If the Peshmerga get involved (which is likely), then the Turks are going to need those 140k troops...

[ananda]

5. It means more war and poor Kurds.

nt

[loudsue]

6. It means that those who are in love with war, hate & killing are still in power.

And I hope their days are numbered.

The rest of the PEOPLE in the world are ready for PEACE.

:kick::kick::kick: