Turkey wants more than “dropping bombs” on ISIS
From the AFP comes news that the Turkish government, you know, those same guys who won’t let us fly operations from our airbases there, want us to do more than just drop bombs on the ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State fellows;
“Dropping tons of bombs from the air is only a temporary solution and only delays the threats and the danger,” [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan told parliament in a keynote address on the opening day of its new session.
“The world should know that Turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be used in the search for a palliative solution,” he added.
Yeah, so whatcha got, Recep? While I agree that if the Syrian question had been solved a year ago, that might have uncomplicated things, but without US leadership and with Russian resistance, that hasn’t been possible. Turkey, on the other hand, has the horsepower to be a leader in the region, but, I guess they’d rather engage in back-bench sniping.
They wouldn’t even let us run the 4th Infantry Division through their country in 2003 during the 2nd invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. When I see Turkish ground troops in Iraq with some of the equipment we’ve given them over the last few decades, I’ll be convinced they’re serious.
Category: Terror War
As God is my witness, I thought Turkey’s could fly.
Damn auto correct. NO APOSTROPHE! 8-|
And its not like their Army sucks either. Their army of “draftees” is badass and they don’t screw around.
It is far more convenient for them to yell cheers from their bench while the US puts boots on ground.
Of course, I’m sure they’re upset that we are forbid to have boots on the ground in Iraq because POTUS says so. Oh, except those 1600 that are there. Oh, and the few hundred more that will go there as part of 1ID HQ. Oh, and the 10,000 that are staying in Afghanistan.
Combat. Barry? “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
actually, they have volunteers and conscripts.
The volunteers are their professional Soldiers that train for war only, and they are bad-ass
The conscripts are on 2 year mandatory enlistments and perform all of the menial support tasks like cooking, cleaning, painting, laundry, etc. etc. freeing the volunteer professional Soldiers to focus fully on warrior tasks.
I had the fortune to get to work with the Turks (in Turkey) and can honestly say that it was one of the most rewarding times I have had in 27 years of service.
I too have trained twice in Turkey with Turkish troops. They will steal anything that is not bolted down, but they are capable, hard troops.
ISIS would do well not to piss the Turks off. Recep is an idiot and is a Islamist appeaser in my opinion but if there was a threat to their country, I believe the Turks would take care of business.
“When I see Turkish ground troops in Iraq with some of the equipment we’ve given them over the last few decades, I’ll be convinced they’re serious.”
Nuff said there.
Oh, they have had forces/firebases in Iraq for years, but they were set up to keep a lid on the Kurds. Seen ’em with my own 2 eyes.
I agree with Eric that the Turks have a badass reputation, but when was the last time they fought a war. Korea? I don’t remember them in RVN or the Balkans. Were any deployed to Kosovo? Have they been part of Iraq, or Afghanistan? Or Desert Storm? With over sixty years between their last real conflict and today, how badassed are they really? They have chased the PRK in the borderlands but that may not be enough to qualify them as “Combat Hardened”.
Rog, United States forces hadn’t fought in a “real conflict” for 50 years, but did pretty well in Europe during WW1.
The marines did well but it took the army awhile to find its legs. I think the Spanish American war of 1899 to 1901 Qualifies as a real war, while the Mexican incursion of 1913 was more of a training exercise using real bullets by both sides. US forces had had lots of combat in the decades leading up to 1917.
Roger: The Turks had a contingent in Kosovo when I was there (Nov 01 – May 02). I believe they were ove in MNB-W, but my memory is not as good as it used to be.
Granted, service in Kosovo at that time really wouldn’t make anyone “battle-hardened,” but they were there and did good work.
They did have a tuning-up ground called Cyprus for about 30 years. Or longer.
Turks were nominally in charge of RC-Capital in Afghanistan. http://www.isaf.nato.int/subordinate-commands/rc-capital/index.php
They also had a large air contingent at the airport in Kabul when I was in A-Stan. They were actually in charge of air operations for awhile, I believe.
Well, they do sell turkey wienies at the grocery store.
Could get interesting if they attack the tomb of Suleyman Shah…