Turkish cabinet votes to send troops to Iraq
Finally, it appears that someone is agreeing to help out in Iraq.
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's Cabinet agreed today to send troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country -- a decision that could relieve U.S. operations in Iraq and help Turkey mend frayed relations with the United States.
But Parliament must first approve, and many lawmakers oppose deployment. If they approve deployment in a vote expected this week, Turkey would become the first predominantly Muslim nation to contribute troops to Iraq.
There was no information on how many soldiers the government would send, but government officials say the United States requested about 10,000.
Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said troops would be deployed for one year, adding: "We hope that they stay for less than one year."
Uh...pardon me for interrupting here, but Turkey has had troops in northern Iraq since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991. Why is this being trumpeted as a step forward. Turkey has done all it can get away with to oppress it's Kurdish population, and since 1991 has been doing the same to Kurds in northern Iraq. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here by welcoming their newfound "commitment" to sending troops to Iraq and/or assisting in the "war on terror". They're already there.
