Turkish request worries some of the Maine delegation

By Deirdre Fulton

WASHINGTON – U.S. foreign relations are on shaky footing, some members of the Maine delegation warned Thursday, as the administration awaited a decision from Turkey on its request for more aid in return for the use of Turkish bases should the United States go to war with Iraq.

Democratic Reps. Thomas Allen and Michael Michaud have both expressed severe reservations about going to war without the support of an international coalition. Now, with Turkey demanding a significant increase in a multi-billion dollar aid package offered by America in return for use of its land to coordinate an invasion on Iraq's northern border, Allen and Michaud said they are even more worried.

"There is a real problem if our president has to pay $26 billion or more to allies like Turkey, who should have a clear interest in protecting its borders from Saddam Hussein," Michaud said in a statement, referring to the amount that could eventually be leveraged from the proposed aid.

In Turkey, as in other European countries, there is significant and vocal opposition to war with Iraq, Allen said in a phone interview Thursday. "For the democratically elected leaders of those countries this is a very difficult situation…. Perhaps they believe that if they agree, they'll be voted out of office," he said.

Lack of international backing is dangerous, Allen warned, predicting an increase in terrorism if America goes to war without allied support. Citing "hostility toward the United States" across Europe and the Middle East, Allen said he believed the administration was handling the situation poorly.

"The administration has alienated the very people we're trying to persuade, and I think it's made it harder to build this coalition," he said.

Without Turkish bases, U.S. troops and machinery would have to be based elsewhere, changing plans and strategies. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Turkey's cooperation "could help expedite military operations and therefore help alleviate the consequences that Turkey could face as a result of military operations."

Turkey, as the only Muslim nation in NATO, can play a special role in pressuring the Iraqi regime to disarm peacefully, she added. For these reasons, Collins said, she remains optimistic about the outcome of Turkish-American negotiations.

For Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, it is still premature to evaluate the Turkish request, according to Snowe's press secretary Dave Lackey. However, he said, Snowe recognizes that "each nation has to make its own decision."

"She understands that the international response in this situation will help determine how successful a role the United Nations can play in the future," Lackey said, adding that for the "past dozen years," Saddam Hussein has failed to take U.N. resolutions seriously.

Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.