time to talk Turkey again (note to BushOK, the topic aint Thanksgiving)

[ag]

You know the old Russian Jewish joke from WWI?  A Jewish mother is saying goodbye to her son, who's been drafted to the Russian Army. "Darling, just don't exert yourself too much. Kill a Turk, and relax; kill a Turk and relax". "Mum, and what if he kills me?" "Why would he, what have you done to him?".

I would suggest to recall, that Turkey has one of the largest and best-trained and best-equipped militaries in the world these days - in fact, it is, by far, the second most important military force in NATO. So, all those who'd like to kill a Turk between bouts of relaxation, should keep that in mind.

[ag]

Second most important military force in NATA?  By far?  It's got the second most number of dudes and is probably number 1 when it comes to strategic placement, but I know I'd rather have the UK or Germany on my side. 

Well, Turkey, probably, has as many tanks as UK, France and Germany together. And, for that matter, to a lot of people in Europe it does seem like it's not Turkey, which is pushing for war, but your side. So, I wouldn't count on more than very wary neutrality from quite a few other NATO states, besides Turkey.

[ag]

Anybody that thinks "my side" is pushing for war more than Turkey is either isn't paying attention, is lying in defense or is just willfully ignorant. 

Well, the same, really, applies to anyone who is saying that Turkey is pushing for war more than Israel, doesn't it? However - and this is what's making the Israeli position so untenable - Turks are, at least, seen as pushing for peace (which is something that cannot be said about the current Israeli government).

[ag]

One thing that you should understand is that your problem is not Turkish government - which, in this case, says things many, if not most, Europeans think to be self-evident. You aren't going to fight a war because of anything that the Turkish government does. Your problem is your own government, which has managed to antagonize the entire world, bar the US Republican party and some European ultra-rightists with its strangely Trostkyite insistence on neither peace nor war (comrade Lieberman would have gotten my reference ) ).