Posted 2:50 PM by Blah blah

Missteps with Turkey Hurt U.S. Military Effort

General: A Longer War Likely (Washington Post). The story of unexpected resistance and setbacks that are delaying the U.S. military effort now.

Scott Rosenberg, managing editor of Salon.com, talks about all these dilemmas eloquently: "we're stuck in a no-win trap: Either we continue to do everything we can to minimize the bloodshed, quite possibly limiting our ability to bring the war to a successful close; or we untie the military's hands, let them bomb Baghdad and other cities to bits and not worry about the 'collateral damage.' In that case, we may well succeed at 'regime change' -- but emerge with a losing position on the global chessboard."

Missteps With Turkey Prove Costly: Diplomatic Debacle Denied U.S. a Strong Northern Thrust in Iraq (Washington Post). Here's the story of the soap opera the U.S. had with Turkey before the war:

"One week into the war, the administration's inability to win Turkey's approval has emerged as an important turning point in the U.S. confrontation with Iraq that senior U.S. officials now acknowledge may ultimately prolong the length of the conflict. It is a story of clumsy diplomacy and mutual misunderstanding, U.S. and Turkish officials said. It also illustrates how the administration undercut its own efforts to broaden international support for war by allowing its war plan to dictate the pace of its diplomacy, diplomats and other experts in U.S.-Turkish relations said."