Stardate 20030216.0912

(On Screen): Well, you see, it seems as if Turkey hasn't actually, really, given us permission to deploy troops there yet. They have yet to pass a resolution in Parliament; it's due to be considered on Tuesday but, well, maybe it's just going to take more time. It's hard, you know; it's really a tough problem.

So says the Turkish foreign minister. What he really wants is to attend an EU summit in Brussels to see what kind of counter-bid the French are willing to make. For instance, maybe the French will drop their objections to Turkish entry into the EU. Who can say? Turkey's government finds itself in a unique situation to try to make deals with people, and wants to consider its options.

The Turkish government also trying to see if he can get the US to sweeten its multi-billion dollar deal for aid that we've offered.

It's time for CENTCOM to consider that it may have to launch its attack from the south only. There appears to be some reason why they think they need a substantial force coming in from the north, but is it really a show-stopper? If this can't be solved, we can't let Turkish intransigence derail us. The longer we wait, the harder this is going to be. A south-only attack in March is better than a two-prong attack in 2004.

Or 2005.

Or 2006.

Or never.