zeiss Wrote:Yeah Grumbler, or you could have an HQ vs. HQ battle. 200 x 200 map, objectives spread like confetti and 40 turns. I bet Target would have loved that. 
The ROK did well in Vietnam but I doubt they have the strength in Iraq to make a difference. Looks like the Turks have started the first phase: "Turkish planes bomb rebel positions" (AP)
Turkey vs. Iraq/ROK/US would be an interesting battle.
The Turks have been bombing position in Iraq for the last 20 years or so. The Media just figured it out. Either that or they have an ulterior motive for bringing it to the front page now after 2+ decades.
My theory is that the Turks see a chance to have the USA do their dirty work. What the media is missing is that the Kurds WANT the Turks to invade. That way they can kill them easier. Make no mistake about it, the Turkish Army has neither the weapons nor training for counter-insurgency work. The Turkish army is built to do Mechanized Warfare, not COIN. The Kurds would slaughter them in wholesale lots. They are doing it now in Turkey, it would only get worse for the Turks to go into the Kurdish zone of Iraq.
The Turks know this, which is why they are running a bluff on the State department, Condi looks hot in a mini and boots, but she is clueless about some things.
Meanwhile the Turkish politicians are happier then a hog in a wallow. They fear the Turkish Military above all other things. If they lose an election, then they go to work in their uncle's Quick-Stop. If the Military takes over, they get a blindfold, a cigarette and a place against the wall.
So by passing a resolution to invade Iraq, they have put the military between a rock and a hard spot. Either send troops into the mountains in the winter, (think wind, snow and sub zero temperatures) without effective air support ( no JADAM's) or logistics (no roads) and watch the Kurds slaughter them, which destroys the power of the military, or show the public that the military is useless. If the military stages another coup, it will really hose the EU thingie. A win-win for the politicians, and a lose lose for the military.
The Kurds know all this, which is why they are taunting the Turks.
State needs to put the screws to the Turkish politicians. They do that by the time honored stick and carrot approach. Tell the politicians that if they don't negotiate with the Kurds, we will start arming the PKK. That will put the fox in the hen house.
When the British split up that part of the world post WW1, it was no accident that the Kurds ended up without a nation. The Brits were scared of the Kurds. For the last few thousand years the Kurds have produced some of the best soldiers on this planet. The Romans taught them the difference between warriors and soldiers and the Kurds have never forgotten, They gave the Brits fits when they moved into the ME.
So the Brits made sure there was no Kurdish nation to give them trouble in the future.
That is why there is no Kurdish nation in SP.:soap:
1200 S. Korean's now, to be cut to 600 by the end of '07. They were supposed to be withdrawn by then, but the S. Koreans have voted to extend the tour. I'll bet they would send more if asked to. When the original 1500 man unit was formed, there were over 30,000 volunteers.