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| A Trip to Turkey |
November 26, 2002 |
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Dear Friends,
Incirlik Air Base is 50 kilometers from the Syrian Border near the southern coast of Turkey and a one hour flight to Iraq. As we landed in the late afternoon light, you could tell it`s a busy place. It supports both Operation Northern Watch, the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, and Operation Enduring Freedom, the war in Afghanistan.
Northern Watch is a joint operation with our Allies. There were Turkish KC-135 tankers on the tarmac and a British Nimrod with its bulbous nose parked next to three American AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) with their umbrella-like domes.
For the U.S., it`s a multi-service operation involving active duty, guard and reserve. There were F-16s on a 30 day assignment from the Des Moines, Iowa National Guard, an active duty F-15 unit from Langley, Virginia, and a boisterous bunch from the Pennsylvania National Guard. Forty to fifty fighters operate out of Incirlik.
I had dinner in the mess hall with two Navy enlisted guys from Widby Island supporting the Prowler electronic jamming aircraft and an active duty KC-135 pilot in a desert brown flight suit on temporary assignment from North Dakota.
Most of the Americans on temporary duty at Incirlik live in a tent city for 30 to 90 days before they rotate back home. They are pretty nice tents -- air conditioned even. But they are tents. While moral is high and there`s a sense of purpose, you can also tell people miss their families and count the days until they will go home.
The crews flying over northern Iraq know that they have to be on top of their game every day. Saddam just needs to get lucky once. There is a $15,000 bounty for shooting down an American aircraft. The day we were there had been an active one. Five anti-aircraft artillery sites had fired on Americans. The Commander of Northern Watch, an American Brigadier General who didn`t look old enough to wear a star on his flight suit, put it this way: "Our job is to enforce, monitor and respond on our terms and on our timetable. We are defensive, but not defenseless."
Our men and women also know that things could get less routine if Iraq doesn`t disarm. They seem to take it in stride. They are well trained professionals and they will do their duty. We are fortunate to have them.
If it comes to that, I believe the Turks will be with us too, as they have been for fifty years. We were the first foreign delegation to meet their new Prime Minister, Abdullah Gul. He told us that President Bush was the first foreign leader to call and congratulate him. That obviously meant a lot to him.
For the first time since Turkey became a state in 1923, the majority in the Parliament is a party that has Islamic roots. Turkey is a secular democracy with a 99% Muslim population and a long-time member of NATO. But the new government stresses that they are not a religious party; they are a conservative democratic party. They won on a platform of joining the European Union, economic reform, and anti-corruption.
If they stay this course, Abdullah Gul and his government will show that a Muslim society can be democratic and comfortable with the modern world. It is an important example on the edge of the Middle East at a troubled time.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
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