Pentagon seeks alternatives for supply of troops in Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. military planners quietly have stepped up a review of alternatives in case the Turkish government restricts U.S. access to Turkish airspace or cuts off access to the air base at Incirlik, Turkey, CNN has learned. Turkey has threatened such action after congressional moves to declare that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in World War I was Genocide. The recent rise in tensions between Turkey and the United States has led the military to increase its planning for alternatives, two military officials with direct knowledge of the ongoing assessment said.



"Events have triggered more detailed planning for the curtailment or closure" of access to Turkey, one official said. The key issue is to find ways to ship supplies and other critical equipment into Iraq. The U.S. military already had been considering alternatives to Turkey because of the growing dependence on that country after the cutback of U.S. forces in central Asia in recent years. But now, with more "detailed planning" under way, the military is considering a variety of options in hopes of being ready for whatever, if anything, the Turks do. U.S. officials say Turkey's options range from a complete cutoff, including ending overland access routes from southern Turkey into Iraq, to less drastic options that simply restrict U.S. access.



The initial assessment is that any cutoff from current access to Turkey would force the U.S. military into longer cargo flights, which would mean extra costs for fuel and for wear and tear on equipment. It may also look for other air hubs in Jordan or Kuwait, officials say.



Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this week pointed out, "Seventy percent of the air cargo, American air cargo, going into Iraq goes through Turkey. Seventy percent of the fuel that goes in for our forces goes in ... through Turkey ... "For those who are concerned that we get as many of these mine-resistant ambush-protected heavy vehicles into Iraq as possible, 95 percent of those vehicles today are being flown into Iraq through Turkey." The Turkish military is poised to strike across the border to fight the group - the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK - a move opposed by the Bush administration. The Turkish parliament could give approval for the incursion into Iraq as early as next week, CNN reports.