Turkey coup: Erdogan backs return of death penalty at vast Istanbul rally - BBC News

Thug is how I also feel Erdogan is too LTC Stephen F., spot on synopsis!

MAJ (Join to see), Continued ...

"President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Gen. Joe Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, should ‘know his place’ and accused the general, who oversees American military operations in the Middle East, of taking the side of the coup plotters.

Mr. Erdogan spoke at a news conference in Ankara a day after Gen. Votel raised concerns that the purges in the Turkish military since the failed coup could affect cooperation with U.S. forces in the fight against Islamic State, which Gen. Votel said so far has been excellent.

‘We’ve certainly had relationships with a lot of Turkish leaders, military leaders in particular, so I’m concerned about what the impact is on those relationships,’ Gen. Votel said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. ‘Some of them are in jail.’

James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, raised a similar concern. ‘Many of our interlocutors have been purged or arrested,’ he said at the same Aspen event. ‘There’s no question that this is going to set back and make more difficult’ the U.S. strategy in the region."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkish-president-erdogan-snaps-at-u-s-general-over-coup-remarks [login to see]

Capt Seid Waddell - Yes, Turkey did not support the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. That was 13 years ago. And, Turkey supported U.S. operations in Iraq substantially from 2003, just not the initial invasion. If only more U.S. Allies and partners would have opposed Bush's illegal war, maybe Iraq wouldn't be the mess it is today! You can read this to mean that yes, I'm suggesting invading Iraq was not actually in the U.S. interest, so actually Turkey was aligned with U.S. interests by not supporting the initial invasion.

Capt Seid Waddell - On opening to Iran: you posted an opinion piece from the nationalinterest.org. On the face of it, the article is not even worth reading--the nationalinterest is such a right-wing conservative organization as to be irrelevant. Reading it though, shows how this supports my point, not yours: The US-Iran relationship is rapidly expanding and improving, post nuclear deal. Increased Turkish ties with Iran thus can be viewed as supporting U.S. interests vis-a-vis Iran.

Capt Seid Waddell - GEN Votel and Mr. Clapper issue: Both quickly retracted their statements, and CJCS GEN Dunford was dispatched immediately to Turkey following these comments, apparently at least in part to reassure Turkey that the U.S. stands behind its Ally. VP Biden will visit Turkey on 24 August (http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/20/europe/biden-erdogan-gulen-us-turkey-trip/). A general and a retired general making ill-advised comments (which were then immediately walked back and followed almost immediately by the CJCS visit) provides no evidence of a disconnect between Turkish and US interests.