U.S. troop withdrawal through Turkey may get PM's OK

U.S. troop withdrawal through Turkey may get PM's OK

edition.cnn.com

Turkey's prime minister said Saturday he would be receptive to the possibility of allowing American troops to withdraw from Iraq across Turkish territory, if the United States asks for permission.

If weapons and ammunition are going to come out, it has to be clear where they are going to be heading," Erdogan said. "If we are informed about where this military equipment would be going precisely, then we can make a proper evaluation."

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Well this is new, seems that the American's have provided themselves with an opportunity to move all combat troops to the Iranian boarder.

I wonder what it is that caused the Turkish Government to change their minds about not allowing US soldiers in their boarders.

Seems a bit strange...

Any thoughts?

~Keeper

edition.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It's essentially going back the way they came in.
While they had majorly invaded from Kuwait, I don't think they want to deal with hauling that much equipment that much farther.

Going across land through Turkey would make it much easier and faster since Turkey should have the infrastructure that makes it a more favorable route when bringing military equipment back towards our bases in Germany and eventually the US.

And look at it like this, if you really want to try and withdraw forces through Kuwait, you're going to get a traffic jam because that is one tiny country to withdraw through. There is more of a border with Turkey and Iraq than with Kuwait and Iraq.

Hazardous trying to bring it around the horn of Africa since Somalia is still infested with pirates.

Same goes for the Iranian issue since it would be more favorable diplomatically, at least in my opinion, to be getting troops away from Iran's general direction. It would help in diffusing the nuclear issue hopefully.

reply to post by spec_ops_wannabe


Your reasoning seems sound. But I have to say it makes me wonder about the whole piracy issue. It seems equally odd that such a situation is beyond maritime law-enforcement's ability to control - to the point of intimidating the military.

The shortest distance between two point is, nevertheless, the best strategy when timing is an issue.

As I recall Turkey simply opposing the bulk of America's invading force to use it's border with Iraq as a staging ground prior to 2003.

American planes still take off from Incirlik to Iraq and Special Forces/Delta frequently crossed the border from Turkey to Iraq to make contact with the Kurdish Peshmarga resistance during the initial weeks of the invasion.

They've never specifically commented on withdrawls before, so this all seems without precedent.

reply to post by spec_ops_wannabe

Going across land through Turkey would make it much easier and faster since Turkey should have the infrastructure that makes it a more favorable route when bringing military equipment back towards our bases in Germany and eventually the US.

The Turkish border may be closer to Baghdad than Kuwait City is (only marginally), but the terrain negates that distance advantage significantly.

The South of Iraq, along the border with Kuwait is nothing but flat sand, which is why US Forces were able to steam roll to Baghdad in record time in 1991 and 2003.

There are major, well-developed highways going directly from places like Baghdad, Mosul and Basra right to Kuwait.

The Northern Iraq-Turkey border is heavily mountainous, the nearest towns to Iraq are extremely remote and very small and underdeveloped.

By the time American forces cross the border with Turkey and get to a major city with a population of over 100,000 people and the infrastructure to airlift or transport men out of Turkey, they will have travelled far more than they needed to get to Kuwait City.

Also the Turkish-Iraqi border is inherently unstable now, with the PPK and Turkish military frequently sparring along it.
May not be such a good idea to throw withdrawing American convoys into that mix.

There is more of a border with Turkey and Iraq than with Kuwait and Iraq.

Half of that border is for all intents and purposes a no-go zone.
Take a look: maps.google.com.au...

Peaks exceeding 1600m dot the border.

It's fair too mountainous, winding and the roads too underdeveloped for American convoys to go through.
Remember America has to head East through Turkey, not West, to the more larger cities.

So it's likely the main route would be somewhere very close to the Syrian border where it meets Turkey, as the terrain is far more flat and passable.

Kuwait on the other hand is a very rich oil state, with world-class highway systems dotting it's border with Iraq.

Same goes for the Iranian issue since it would be more favorable diplomatically, at least in my opinion, to be getting troops away from Iran's general direction. It would help in diffusing the nuclear issue hopefully.

I think Iran would be more glad than anything to see American troops leaving it's neighbourhood.

Irregardless of which way they're heading out

[edit on 23/3/09 by The Godfather of Conspira]