Since Turkey has been taken over by democratic mob rule in the form of an Islamic government, the secular pragmatism of the children of Ataturk seems to have reached the end of its shelf life, which was probably way past its expiration date to start out with, and probably has been for at least thirty years. Now you can smell the stench from the back alleys of Ankara to the suburbs of Paris. Evidently, old yearnings for the glories of the Caliphate are never too far below the surface. But does that necessarily mean a coming revival of the Ottoman Empire is a sure thing?
One should hope not, but on the other hand, if the Turks, in conjunction with immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, and Pakistan, manage to take over the European continent, they could do so without firing a shot. All it would take is some patience. The old saying about building a better world for one's children takes on a suddenly ominous meaning here.
Some of them openly encourage the deluge of Islamic immigrants into Europe, especially those from Turkey, as a strategy for conquering the West. Muammar Khaddafi of Libya even says Turkey will join the EU as a Trojan Horse. From that point on, he claims, the destiny of Europe will be in the hands of the coming Muslim majority.
And now, the Mia Marmara incident seems an incitement, a tactic originating from Turkey meant to test the limits of European tolerance, and American as well. Some insist this is an overreaction to Israel, and possibly America's, support for the Kurdish population of Turkey and Iraq, a population in search of its own homeland. There is no doubt that this is a sore spot, but is this all there is to it?
The flotilla incident has amounted to a propaganda victory against Israel, mainly for Turkey, and also Hamas, but also situated to benefit from the humiliation is Iran, who might now feel emboldened to increase its support for Hezbollah as well as Hamas. And then there is Syria, always looking towards the day when they might once more retrieve their beloved Golan from the hands of the Israelis who took it from them as a spoil of war now more than a third of a century ago. The fact that it was a war started by Syria and her allies is of course irrelevant.
Even King Abdullah of Jordan has been approached through diplomatic channels as regards a possible coming Middle East all-out war, which he has warned is coming to the Middle East, and which could at least involve Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Hamas, and ominously, Jordan, whether Hussein is so inclined or not. Obviously, his country, which provides a buffer zone, would not be immune from its land, or at least its airspace, being violated. In point of fact, such a conflict could set the entire Middle East aflame. The idea that the Israelis might have as many as fifty nuclear weapons, possibly more, should not be overlooked, nor should it be assumed that they would avoid using them at any and all costs. Nor should they.
Our Chicago trained, Harvard educated President is at a loss. He is clueless, and on the wrong side, though he would probably insist that he is on the right side of history. That the US is engaged with the Israelis much in the way an empire deals with a client state could not be more obvious than as seen with the current Israeli relationship with Obama. But this is bigger than Obama. Our relationship has always had elements of empire-client, but in the beginning, the US was not the schizophrenic entity it currently is. It should come as no surprise that the split personality would eventually manifest itself in foreign affairs to the same extent that it does in regards to internal matters. But this does bode for very bad tidings for the Israelis, much more than it does our other friends and allies, what true ones we do have, if any.
The problem is, Mr. Hyde is not much more benign than Doctor Jekyll in certain important respects. The GOP refuses to see the overall relative uselessness of NATO.
Turkey has actually given us a gift that we should not ignore. As a NATO ally, we need to clarify to them that they are acting outside the scope of NATO support and protection. We should either move to eject them from the body or, better yet, we should remove ourselves from the organization, which would then quickly fall into such disarray it would all but evaporate. Without NATO, the EU itself would probably become even more dysfunctional than it already is, and might itself implode.
So why don't we do that? The legitimate need and use for NATO is even more past its expiration date than Ataturk's secular government of Turkey. We seem to think we need our alliances with the British, French, and Germans, partially as a land base and stepping stone to the Middle East, partially for the so-called Global War on Terror, partially to keep the ambitions of the Russians in check, and of course partially to keep the world economy afloat. I guess they just can't live without us after all. But one would be hard pressed to find a larger group of ingrates than is to be found among our older European NATO allies.
I think its time to cut them loose. Luckily, we are still an ocean away when the next European war ignites, and we shouldn't be in a hurry to put out the flames the next time around. Nor should we be in a hurry to pick up the pieces by the time the slaughter is over. There will be, I am sure, more than enough Turks, Pakistanis, Algerians, Moroccans, and Somalis to handle that task. From that point on, let the Russians deal with the problem the same way they deal with their Chechnya population.
You can with sufficient effort save a friend from the wiles of the enemy. What is next to impossible is to save a friend from his own stupidity. As for Israel, there is no more isolated country on the face of the planet, which makes the controversy and outrage over the Gaza blockade so ironic. It is almost to the point that it passes the arena of hypocrisy and veers into the realm of sarcasm. Now that the blockade has been eased, things will likely get worse for the Israelis, and the more concessions they grant, the worse it will get again-and again, and again, and again.
Evidently, Caroline Glick does not agree with my opinion that the Israelis should not hesitate to use their nuclear capacity, on Damascus, Tehran, Ankara, and anyone else it might feel the need, as she did not post my comment to the effect on her moderated blog. Some people just don't want to have to look at the most horrible eventualities, I suppose.
But hey-the world is too overpopulated anyway, and besides, a little war never killed anyone-it just hastened their demise.
