Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in
remarks published on Tuesday he would oppose the use of Iraqi territory as a launchpad for any U.S. military strike on Syria...and then goes on to explain that his opposition isn't worth a bucket of warm spit, since Iraq apparently is not a sovereign nation.
"I absolutely reject that Iraqi territory be used as a launchpad for any military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Talabani told Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
"But this is my personal opinion and my capabilities are limited in confronting America's might ... I cannot impose my opinion on them," he added in an interview.
Bush and Rice's saber-rattling and attempts at diversion from the Administration's problems are especially troubling in the context of threats advanced against Syria and Iran. Iran is allied with Iraq's Shi'a population. Syria and its Ba'athist regime have been long allies with the Sunnis in Iraq - AND Talabani, a Kurd, also believes that he owes them a lot.
Talabani, who also heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), had a long-standing alliance with Syria which allowed him to operate from its territory against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
"I will not say a word against Syria which I owe a lot to. If I have anything to say I will relay it directly to brother (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad," Talabani said.
American policies appear to be increasing the risk of turning Iraq's current low scale civil war into a regional conflict, dragging Syria to the west and Iran to the east into the fray...and of course, another of our new satellite states, Afghanistan, lies on the eastern border of Iran. Bush will be able to outdo Napoleon by fighting a war on THREE fronts simultaneously.
Check out this map - the areas in red are those already aligned with the U.S. Does anyone really think that the Russians and the Chinese are going to allow Bush to control the entire region?
It's time to start investing in gold and buying property abroad.