Military

IRAQ

¨         The New York Times quotes senior officials saying Wednesday that the Bush administration is mounting a major effort to enlist the support of the new Turkish government for a northern front if there is a war with Iraq.  As part of that effort, Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz plans to leave on Sunday for a round of consultations in Ankara, Brussels and London.   According to the newspaper, Bush administration officials say the United States could defeat Iraq without Turkey's support. But they argue that an American military campaign would be more decisive and could be executed more quickly if Iraq's military had to fight on several fronts.  They also say that the Pentagon needs to dispel uncertainty over Turkey's role in a potential conflict.  There have reportedly been, in effect, two military plans by the United States:  one that assumes extensive Turkish cooperation in a military campaign to dislodge Saddam Hussein's government and one that does not. Senior American officials are quoted saying Washington was running out of time to settle its northern front strategy because they considered it unlikely that the Iraqi government would comply with UN inspections.  The newspaper claims that Wolfowitz's first stop will be Brussels, where he will meet with NATO ambassadors.  It adds that the Bush administration would like NATO members to join in Bush's coalition of nations that are able and willing to confront Iraq.  It also wants NATO to reaffirm its intention to support Turkey in the event of a war with Iraq.  "Article V of the NATO charter stipulates that an attack on one member is to be considered as an attack on all. Washington would like this provision to be invoked if there is a war with Iraq," adds the newspaper.  A related article in the Washington Post asserts that the administration wants a deal in which Turkey would contribute military forces and allow U.S. forces to use Turkish bases to launch an invasion of northern Iraq.  The newspaper quotes administration officials saying Wolfowitz, at the least, wants to come away with a sense of how long it will take to get an answer from the new government.  He will reportedly try to sell Turkey on the notion that its full military assistance would make any invasion of Iraq much shorter and much less damaging to the region.  Turkish military cooperation, one official said, would be a critical part of presenting Saddam Hussein with as robust a military invasion force from the north as possible.  To persuade the Turks to join the fight, the official added, Wolfowitz will offer them an aid package and a guarantee that the United States shares Turkey's opposition to an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

Some media see Chancellor Schroeder's announcement Wednesday that Germany will guarantee U.S. military forces unrestricted overflights and use of their bases on its soil in the event of a war with Iraq as a sign that U.S.-German relations are on mend.

Schroeder's announcement is his most concerted effort yet to heal relations with Washington, writes The Guardian.  It notes that the German leadership's show of good faith came as international arms monitors searched a military missile-testing range and a possible nuclear site outside Baghdad, starting a new round of inspections that could determine the prospects for war.  

EU-ENLARGEMENT

¨         The Financial Times quotes U.S. administration officials saying Wednesday that President Bush and Secretary of State Powell are personally leading the campaign to persuade the EU to bring Turkey into its fold.  Unprecedented pressure is reportedly being put on the Europeans to give Turkey a date for accession talks at the Copenhagen summit, which starts in two weeks, when negotiations to bring 10 more countries into the EU will be sealed.  Senior U.S. officials are quoted saying that Bush and Powell want Europe to give Turkey the green light on accession talks ahead of any potential war in the Gulf.    Another article in the Financial Times stresses that with Denmark, current holder of the EU presidency, determined to wrap up enlargement negotiations with the 10 candidate countries before next month's Copenhagen summit, Turkey has been catapulted to the top of the bloc's agenda.  The article adds that even though some countries believe Turkey has no place in an enlarged EU, a momentum is building up for the union to open its doors to Ankara. 

TERRORISM

¨         The BBC World Service reported that suicide car bombers have killed at least eight people at an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombassa, Kenya, at the same time as two missiles were fired at an Israeli holiday jet that had taken off from the city's airport.  According to the broadcast, the missiles aimed at the aircraft narrowly missed their target, but a large part of the hotel has been reduced to rubble.  Kenyan and Israeli officials speculated that the Al Qaeda network was behind the near-simultaneous attacks.  The program observed that if it is confirmed as the work of Al Qaeda, this would be the first direct attack on Israelis by the group-despite the hostility toward Israel normally shown by Bin Laden in recordings of his speeches.  According to the program, there were also unconfirmed reports from hotel staff that a light aircraft had buzzed the hotel complex before the attacks, dropping three packages containing bombs.  The network further reported that the aircraft that came under missile attack belongs to the Arkia charter company.  It quoted airline officials saying the pilots saw two streaks of light on the left side of the aircraft, and had initially prepared for an emergency landing in Nairobi before deciding to continue to Israel.  The program recalled that in his most recent recorded message, broadcast on Nov. 12, Bin Laden called on governments in the West themselves from the United States and Israel.  If they did not, he said, they would face bombings and killings similar to the recent attack on a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, that killed about 200 people.