Pentagon mapping out plan B for to secure supplies for US troops in Iraq

At a time of tense US-Turkish relations, the US military is looking for a second supply route bypassing Turkey for its troops in Iraq.
Jordan and Kuwait could be used as alternatives to Turkey.
Support for the nonbinding resolution on the Armenian genocide wanes in the House of representatives.

New York. US authorities are worried by the situation in Turkey. As the Turkish parliament overwhelmingly agreed on Wednesday October 17 to allow military incursions against Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq, the White House is starting to rethink its strategy to rethink its supply route into Iraq. The goal for the Pentagon is to make sure that the160,000 US troops would still get what they need to fight the war should Turkey decide to shut its borders and prevent the US military to use the base of Incirlik. “We always do planning, said lieutenant Todd Vician, a Pentagon spokesman in Washington. Our decision to think about an alternate supply route is based on both the situation in Turkey and here at home”

The White House repeatedly asked Ankara not to launch military attacks in Northern Iraq. On Wednesday, George Bush restated his position at a press conference in the White House. “We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don’t think it is in their interests to send troops into Iraq. M. Bush said. (…) They have had troops stationed there (in Iraq) for quite a while. We don’t think it’s in their interests to send more troops in”.

The Bush administration’s job with Turkey was recently made more difficult by a resolution in Congress, which would label as genocide the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during the First World War. On Wednesday, George Bush against asked Congress to strike down a mdeasure he called “counterproductive”.

Support for the text that angered Ankara, has waned in the last few days in the House of Representatives. Nine lawmakers have withdrawn their support for the text after Turkey threatened to shut down its borders and Defense Secretary Robert warned that 70% of US cargo to Iraq passed through Turkey.

The defection of nine co-sponsors leaves the nonbinding resolution with 216 of the House’s 435 members signed on. It is now 3 votes short of the majority. Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal), the House speaker, has been forced to postpone a vote on the text.

The Pentagon will continue to explore other supply routes, even if the resolution fails, said Todd Vician, the spokesman for the Pentagon. “We have to plan for all kinds of situations”, Mr Vician added. He refused to confirm if Jordan and Kuwait could be used as alternate routes as they were in the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq in the Spring of 2003. “We are not ready to discuss our options yet”, Lieutenant Vician concluded.

New York / Jean-Cosme Delaloye

A French version of this story was published on October 18 in Tribune de Genève and 24heures in Switzerland.

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