Sunday, June 6, 2010

What's up with the Turks?

Once Israel's best friend in the region, Turkey, now experiencing a resurgence of Islam under the stewardship of its odious Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is fast becoming another threat. Mark Steyn writes at NRO:
Foreign policy “realists,” back in the saddle since the Texan cowboy left town, are extremely fond of the concept of “stability”: America needs a stable Middle East, so we should learn to live with Mubarak and the mullahs and the House of Saud, etc. You can see the appeal of “stability” to your big-time geopolitical analyst: You don’t have to update your Rolodex too often, never mind rethink your assumptions. “Stability” is a fancy term to upgrade inertia and complacency into strategy. No wonder the fetishization of stability is one of the most stable features of foreign-policy analysis.

Unfortunately, back in what passes for the real world, there is no stability. History is always on the march, and, if it’s not moving in your direction, it’s generally moving in the other fellow’s. Take this “humanitarian” “aid” flotilla. Much of what went on — the dissembling of the Palestinian propagandists, the hysteria of the U.N. and the Euro-ninnies — was just business as usual. But what was most striking was the behavior of the Turks. In the wake of the Israeli raid, Ankara promised to provide Turkish naval protection for the next “aid” convoy to Gaza. This would be, in effect, an act of war — more to the point, an act of war by a NATO member against the State of Israel.
Do read the whole thing.

Meanwhile, back here in the states, two New Jersey men with terrorist ties were arrested at JFK Airport , as they prepared to board a plane for Egypt. Their ultimate destination was Somalia, probably one of that country's terrorist training camps.

Good catch. Maybe the president will start to figure out that, in spite of the fact that he's on board with the whole realpolitik shtick that animates liberal statesmanship, our enemies still want to destroy us.

5 comments:

JeffS said...

Steyn's post reminds me of the observation made by some commenter on Tim Blair's old blog -- lefties are the true conservatives, as they don't want things to change, especially if that change means improvement. Status quo, for ever.

OT: Have you heard from Rebecca? There are problems in Ohio.

Paco said...

Jeff: she commented as recently as yesterday. Rebecca, if you're reading, weigh in!

Carol said...

Every time I read about Turkey's march toward becoming a theocratic state it breaks my heart. So much has changed since I lived there from late '77 to early '79. I loved the time I spent there. The people were kind, generous and very secular. And while some of the Turkish customs struck this then 19 year old girl from Pulaski County Kentucky as, um, odd, the Turks I knew took a very "live and let live" attitude.

RebeccaH said...

Still here, thanks for asking. We got a little rain and wind, but all the damage seems to be up north.

In fact, I spent today with the family, watching my oldest grandson graduate from high school. I didn't cry until the graduating students climbed into the seats to give white roses to their loved ones, and I got one.

As for Turkey, alas, I fear more than ever that we're headed for a world war.

JeffS said...

Good to hear, Rebecca! Both on the twisters and the rose!