An American cargo plane taking off from Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey. The base is a major resupply hub for Iraq. Agence France-PresseFrom L.A. Times:
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's signal this week that it would be willing to let U.S. troops transit the country as forces leave Iraq is a sign of improved relations, but it is not yet certain the route will be needed, a top U.S. Army commander told The Associated Press Tuesday.
"We're in the process now of trying to re-establish what had been a long standing positive relationship," Gen. Carter Ham, who commands U.S. Army Europe, told the AP. "I'm not aware that there are any plans from Central Command to move troops through Turkey but the fact that the (Turkish) prime minister said he would consider that is a positive sign."
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My Comment: U.S. and Iraqi success will translate into success for Turkey. This will come in the following ways .... (1) obtaining Iraqi support to limit Kurdish separation movements and guerrilla groups. (2) A neighbor that can now bring economic and trade possibilities to the region. (3) a buffer against fundamentalist groups in the region. Turkey has very little to lose .... and a lot to gain by working with both Iraq and the U.S. My only beef with the Turks is that they should have behaved like this years ago.
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