Do you want or not?

The new politicians of Iraq have understood that opposing the occupation publicly brings political gains. But since they cannot speak out against the United States, they say instead that they do not want Turkish troops.

Turkish military can make a serious contribution to the establishment of internal stability of Iraq and prevent Kurds from harming territorial integrity of Iraq. But Kurdish groups in northern Iraq want to keep alive the option of creating an independent state and break off from Iraq. For this reason, they oppose our sending troops. They say "Turkish army cannot enter northern Iraq or even pass through this region en route to their duty areas. According to them, the Kurdish region is already soil of an independent state, rather than a part of Iraq. They do not see that nobody would let them have an independent state in the chaos that the United States would leave behind, if it fails and has to withdraw from Iraq.

And how about the reaction that the U.S. media showed as soon as the government motion was passed? Some television channels looked like to have already readied pictures of Ottoman soldiers to show on this occasion. They explain the opposition to Turkish troops by our being "the inheritor of the colonialist Ottoman Empire." Some of them are highly worried because the new friend and ally Kurds are worried. Others say we are sending soldiers because we have received money from the United States or in order to patch up ties with the United States, which we offended once in March, and argue that we would do more harm than good in Iraq.

In this case, one has to express plain facts with plain words. The fact that the government motion was not passed on March 1 did not affect the fate of the war in Iraq. The U.S. army won the war in a very short period of time with no need for Turkey.

Now the situation is different. The United States cannot maintain security in Iraq. Its soldiers are being killed on a daily basis. It is in a quagmire. Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, having said: "I hope the United States will not need us again", has been proven to be right in his intuition. Turkish troops can help the United States get out of this quagmire or cannot. The United States does not have a better option anyway. No other way out appears on the horizon to boost President Bush’s chances in the next elections. The two countries, together, can make contributions from other Muslim countries possible. Turkey can increase the number of troops if necessary, etc. It should be kept in mind that Turkey’s decision to send troops to Iraq is only a first step in a long-term strategy aimed at democratizing the Greater Middle East and reintegrating it into the world.

France wants the sovereignty to be transferred to Iraqis without the necessary preparations being made, like in Afghanistan, and desires the final say to depend on its veto under the U.N. umbrella, as the United States continues to bear the military burden. Given that Secretary-General Kofi Annan came up with support for this, it seems almost no realistic chance has been left for a Security Council resolution. But if Turkey’s decision to send troops without a U.N. decision had not decreased the need for international legitimacy, the United States would not have opted for withdrawing the draft resolution so easily. That is, Turkey’s decision has shaken the French and German position against the United States.

The United States has rarely needed an ally that much. To see this fact, one needs two eyes, rather than a brain. But there is such an atmosphere created that as if we are dying to go to Iraq and everyone else is against us. And the United States is working so hard to convince Kurds as well as the Governing Council. The impression that we get from all this is that the ultimate aim lying behind this scene is to limit our expectations regarding Iraq.

This government has made a disastrously risky decision. Therefore it expects Turkey’s rational interests, related to Iraq or not, to be met in a rational manner. If it happens to say; "let’s enter Iraq, even if we have to sacrifice our interests," martyrs coming in coffins will spell the end for both the operation and the AK Party.

Please let’s not play game this time. If you do not want, say it openly.