I have been following news on the upcoming war in the British press as a gauge of public support. Anti war and anti US sentiment has markedly increased in the past month.
Regan and Bush 1 helped Saddam (back when the big thing was balancing Iran) and now The Guardian is reporting that the UK was also involved.
It must be good to be in the arms industry - they seem to win no matter what.
The Guardian also reports some gaming (er - dirty tricks) of the UN situation. This can't be a good way to make or keep friends.
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I wish I had a sense of which Turkish papers are representative of govenment and public views. Zaman is one that offers an English translation. Some of the editorials suggest the paper represents the reported will of the people more than the military. At least one of the editorials would be considered off the wall in much of the Western world making the claim that the war would cost the US $99B with Turkey and $1T without. It concludes that Turkey can stop a war (if the stated costs were believed by the US they clearly could stop a war, but ...)
It will be interesting to see just how much control the US has over Turkey. Being a ruler who answers more to another government (and your military) has to be tough when the overwhelming majority of your population takes a diametrically opposed position. A huge unknown for the Bush administration is where this places Turkey in the future.
They (the Bush folks) seem particularly gifted at giving dictation and incompetent at listening.
10:33:33 AM 
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