"Dispatches From The Edge: Turkey, the U.S, and Empire’s Twilight
By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday June 22, 2010
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When U.S. forces found themselves beset by a growing insurgency in Iraq following their lighting overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the most obvious parallel that came to mind was Vietnam: an occupying army, far from home, besieged by a shadowy foe. But Patrick Cockburn, the Independent’s (UK) ace Middle East reporter, suggested that the escalating chaos was more like the Boer War than the conflict in Southeast Asia. It was a parallel that went past most Americans, very few of whom know anything about the short, savage turn of the century war between Dutch settlers and the British Empire in South Africa. But the analogy explains a great deal about the growing influence of a country like Turkey, and why Washington, despite its military power and economic clout, can no longer dominate regional and global politics.
Take the current tension in U.S. –Turkish relations around Iran and Israel. "
More:Dispatches From The Edge: Turkey, the U.S, and Empire’s Twilight. Category: Columns from The Berkeley Daily Planet - Tuesday June 22, 2010