From the Washington Post, January 22, 1991:
Despite NATO’s commitment to defend Turkey, there is no consensus in the Western alliance to send forces to help Ankara if it is attacked by Iraq in retaliation for U.S.-led bombing raids launched from bases in Turkey, according to diplomats from four NATO nations.
If Baghdad fires Scud missiles at Turkey, the only NATO country to share a border with Iraq, the organization “will protect Turkey,” NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner has said. “Whoever attacks Turkey must realize that he will be attacking all member nations.”
But at least four NATO members – including Spain and Belgium – agree with the reluctance voiced today by German leaders against joining the Persian Gulf War, even if Turkey asks for help, according to diplomats from the United States, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s spokesman, Dieter Vogel, called Woerner’s comment “an interesting statement,” adding only that the German government’s position was not “describable.” Kohl avoided the topic today, saying he would “not publicly meditate on what would” spark Germany’s and NATO’s obligation to defend Turkey.
Maybe it’s time to ask France and Germany to leave NATO. Maybe, in reality, they already have.
MOORE WILL GET THE OSCAR: Of course he will. These people are in the movie business. They made “A Beautiful Mind” and “Good Will Hunting” the best movies of the year. You think a made-up documentary will stop them? For a little light relief, here’s a short extract from a truly hilarious Michael Moore parody in London’s satirical magazine, “Private Eye” (my brother sends over a copy every couple of weeks). It’s Michael Moore’s diary, as written by Craig Brown, Tina’s spectacularly talented brother:
The tobacco companies (all run by men) have been extremely successful in convincing the firearms lobby to pacify the car manufacturers by distributing crack cocaine to 132 nuclear plants so that now up to 69 percent of women between the ages of 28 and 39 are unable to drive their kids to school without inhaling harmful emissions from the ozone layer caused by toxic fumes radiated by President Bush under direct instructions from – yes, you guessed it – the tobacco companies. So where does that leave the rest of us? Ho-hum. From where I’m standing, guys, it looks like we’re drowning in deep doggy-do. And I don’t know ’bout you, but deep doggy-do’s not something I like to drown in – at least not when there’s a Pammy Anderson movie just started on the TV!!!
Moore in reality is a little less coherent than this, but it’s a pretty accurate otherwise, innit?
The Dish 