Another reason to bounce Turkey from NATO: Giving Syria advanced weaponry

SOURCE:  Liberty Pundits

Posted by Clyde Middleton on Jul 17 2010 Filed under Middle East, Nat'l Security, News & Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Here’s the scoop:  The Syrian campaign is backed by Heron (Eitan) spy drones Israel sold Turkey, made accessible on the personal say-so of Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan. Turkey therefore becomes the first NATO member to make advanced Western military technology available for the use of a strong ally of radical Iran and an active sponsor of terrorists. Following intense exchanges between Jerusalem and Washington, the NATO command was urged to put Ankara on the carpet – with no response as yet.

Do we need more reasons?  Then how about this - Syrian president Bashar Assad said: “Our cooperation with Turkey in the security field is not new. We have coordinated for many years. Intervening when there are preparations for a terrorist attack or for infiltration is a dimension of this cooperation.”

Oh.

So Obama’s favorite upstart Muslim country, Turkey, has been working closely with Syria on security (read “military”) matters for years.  And these people are in NATO?

To get a feel for Obama’s position on Turkey, let’s go back to April 4, 2009:Turkey said on Saturday it had dropped its objections to Dane Anders Fogh Rasmussen becoming the next head of NATO after U.S. President Barack Obama offered promises that one of Rasmussen’s deputies would be a Turk.

And more clarity two days later:  Eventually, Fogh Rasmussen was selected as the consensus candidate, but at a steep price. The Dane won the job only after engaging in intensive negotiations with Turkish president Abdullah Gül hosted by Barack Obama. Fogh Rasmussen promised to appoint at least two Turks and publicly to address Muslim concerns about his response to the cartoons. More broadly, Erdoğan announced. Obama “gave us guarantees” concerning Turkish reservations about Fogh Rasmussen.

The speculation is now in the open about Turkey as a Trojan Horse:  One wonders how long they will remain part of NATO as they continue to turn towards the Islamist East and increasingly become committed to a new Iran-Syria-Turkey Axis of Islamic power. The Obama administration seems to be ignoring the obvious signs that Turkey may be in the midst of a metamorphosis from friend to foe.

And more – this published just yesterday:  Political correctness should never trump security and yet, in NATO, it does: NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen has appointed a Turkish diplomat closely allied to Turkey’s pro-Hamas, pro-Iranian president Abdullah Gul to be NATO’s new deputy for planning. During the Bosnia campaign, certain NATO members  tipped off Serbs about NATO operations. Given the strategic threats emanating from Turkey’s allies in the Middle East, placing a Turkish official in any sensitive capacity seems a recipe for disaster.

Turkey is openly supplying advanced weaponry to a known terrorist state.  The drones are being used on an active battlefield.

Yet we not just keep them in NATO but give them leadership positions?

Help me understand.