You'd think they'd be embarassed (Updated)

But you must have to pass a test of being immune from feeling embarassment to work in the Cheney-Bush administration. I couldn't help doing a double-take on this one, Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tells Turkey To "Wrap Up" Iraq Incursion by Lolita Baldor Huffington Post 02/28/08. It's a news article about senior US officials, including Dear Leader Bush himself, saying that the Turkish army should leave northern Iraq soon. Since they are invading a theoretically sovereign country. Where could they have ever gotten the idea that would be okay? This part is where I did the double-take:

"It should not be long-lasting," Bush said at a White House news conference. "The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out."

[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael] Mullen said the Turkish incursion "comes at a very sensitive time with respect to our engagement in Iraq, and we're very worried that it could tip the balance in the wrong direction, in terms of our engagement there, making it much more difficult. So it is a very delicate balance."

Mullen said his Turkish counterpart has assured him "that they will in fact limit" the duration of the military action but have not given the United States a specific date on which they intend to pull out. (my emphasis)

I'm sure Turkey has it's own John "100 Years War" McCains who are saying, "No, we can never surrender! If we withdraw before Victory, The Terrorists will tell the world they have defeated us. And setting a deadline to withdraw would just give The Enemy a signal of how long they need to lay low before they attack us again. Never retreat! Never surrender!" Well, at least the Turks are giving Our Leader a general idea of their plans: Turkey says military operation in Iraq might last a year (dpa) Wiredispatch.com 02/28/08.

(Update: AP is reporting that Turkey is pulling its ground troops out of Iraq, which makes the dpa report that Turkey was saying the operation might last a year even more enigmatic. Turkish troops pull out of Iraq by Burhanettin Ozbilici 02/29/08)

Tags: iraq war, mccain, turkey

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