US cancels aid package to Turkey

[Kanth]

Why do you think we have lost our friendship with Turkey?

Originally posted by Oedipus

 So while some think Turkey lost out on 6 billion in aid I imagine thier friendship was worth a hell of a lot more than that. IMO it's the US that will end up the the loser in all this. BTW, how many countries are there left to burn and scorn for not doing the US's bidding? Anyone got a "burned bridge" tally going?
  Oed

[Frogm4n]

levi, by doing what the people demand is a country standing up for itself. Polititions are supposed to do what the will of the people tell them to do. That is a democracy. By bending to the will of the people they proved they are more of a true democracy then alot of countrys out there. Of course democracys will make some mistakes, but dammit ill take some mistakes made over a dictatorship.

[Rude]

Originally posted by Frogm4n
I respect turkey alot more now actually. They proved they have alot more character then i thought by standing up for themselves and saying we will handle the problem ourselves if it does indeed become one.

Ya better lose that respect soon....they will allow US troops next week at the latest.

[BigGun]

I actually thought I heard the total aid package was around $30 billion, not $6 billion. Either way, it is a lot of money, especially if you are developing country like turkey.

I don't think was a smart move, but then again I am not turkish. If they do start having problems along their border with refugees or military problems, hopefully the US will leave them to solve the problem. If they want our help, we out to charge em every penny they can afford, let em live with there decision.

[10Bears]

I'm a uniter not a divider

--George Bush..

[Tuomio]

Turkey just tried to double the jackpot,  but they were out of luck. This teaches a valuable lesson, that US has balls to say these beggars, "get a haircut and get a real job".

And for the "Turkey showed Bush they cant be bought", think again really hard, who was the losing side again? Who did not get 6 billion dollars and who saved it? I think with that money you could prolly fill the Persian Gulf with earth and make that whole damn thing one big airfield.

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by Frogm4n
levi, by doing what the people demand is a country standing up for itself. Polititions are supposed to do what the will of the people tell them to do.

Yes, democracy is all about representing the interests of the people, and I support Turkey's democratic right to vote any way they wish on allowing American military access.

However, I would caution to read too much into the vote.  Democratically-elected politicians typically seek reelection above all else (unsurprisingly), so this vote is probably less about "standing up" to America as it is Turkish politicians fearing a reelection backlash by "standing up" to the electorate.

That's not something to respect or disrespect.  That's just democratic politics.  And in this case, the vote was quite myopic given the long term consequences.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[AKIron]

Originally posted by 10Bears
I'm a uniter not a divider

--George Bush..

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs

--Big Bird

[SirLoin]

90% of the Turkish population didn't want Allied troops...So why the surprise?

[Hortlund]

Originally posted by SirLoin
90% of the Turkish population didn't want Allied troops...So why the surprise?

What surprise?

They are about to learn a valuable lesson on how stupid it is to base security policy on opinion polls...

[midnight Target]

Originally posted by Hortlund
Hi Kelly,
no I dont need aproval of every specific post. The way it works is me, Animal, Midnight Target and Weazel sit down every Sunday night in a chat session and draw up plans on what I should post and when. The I spend the week trying to follow this plan to the best of my abilities.

This is of motivated by a desire to cause unrest and confusion among the European posters on these boards.  The basic idea is that the Euro anti-war front will be split and disorganized when they realize that there are some Euros that actually support the US policy on terror.

Thanks for asking!

And if you want to help, just send me an email, and I will forward this weeks secret BB post-plan.

Best regards
Steve

OMG! You have broken the secret code of the BBS Trilateral Commision!!!  

You must now grow a beard and become a raving radical hippie for 1 year to atone for your sins.

I hope your happy!!!

[BigGun]

Originally posted by Oedipus
Kanth of course I could be wrong but IMO the US slapped Turkey in the face by cancelling the aid. After 50 years of backing and supporting the US and Nato, against the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, how warm should Turkey be now towards the US? After making a soveriegn choice not to allow US troops on thier soil which would be used for a war that is not warmly welcomed by most of the planet?
 IMO the signal the US sent to Turkey, as well as other countries that have called the US "friend," is that past help and efforts do not carry any future weight. That they are to do the US's bidding like a good lackey, regardless of how much they like or dislike what is asked of them, or the US will be punitive and spiteful.

 Oed

Are you arguing that the US should continue to give Turkey aid?? No way in Hell I would hope. I don't care what support they gave in the past supporting US or NATO, they made the decision not to let US troops deploy from their land, knowing aid or no aid was a string attached.

They made there decision, right or wrong, now let them live with it. If US is handing out Aid & $$, they have every right to attach strings to it. Countries can either choose to accept the aid with strings or not to accept, it is their choice. Turkey with their infinate wisdom choose not to accept Aid by not allowing troops. I am sure US will be able to accomplish goals without Turkey. I think in the long run Turkey will feel more pain from this decision than the US.

[straffo]

MT we are not safe anymore it's time to find another way to do our secret tricks...
(what about a secret handshake ?)

[Puke]

IMO the signal the US sent to Turkey, as well as other countries that have called the US "friend," is that past help and efforts do not carry any future weight. That they are to do the US's bidding like a good lackey, regardless of how much they like or dislike what is asked of them, or the US will be punitive and spiteful.

You can flip this whole entire thing around too, you know.  Why is it punitive or spiteful to revoke aid?  The charity Turkey receives is not a right of theirs and is not guaranteed to the end of time.  There is only a finite amount of wealth in the USA and there are plenty of people and nations that can use aid.  To blackmail your "friend" and say you can make war for $x but not $y really shows that Turkey has no real objection to this war and is just trying to take advantage of its "friend."

[edit]: I'm sure if you personally supported a charity and it no longer represented the goals you seek that you'd stop your charity as well.

[-ammo-]

I may have missed this, but has anyone said that the reason teh aid package was not sent was because it was intended to compensate the turks for the costs involved with supporting the planned large troop deployment?  So, if the Turks say "I'm sorry, you can't stage an invasion from Turkey, the deployment is off", then it follows suit that the US would not send the money.  Sounds elementary to me

"State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said most of the package was predicated on compensating Turkey for the costs of facilitating the deployment of more than 60,000 troops"