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Turkey holds out for extra U.S. aid over IraqWithout its bases, U.S. forces would likely drive or fly north
ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkey put off a decision Tuesday on whether to allow its country to become a staging ground for U.S. troops to attack Iraq in case of war, and U.S. military officials began looking at other staging options. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the United States that it will not automatically support a war against Iraq and that it needs more assurance of financial compensation if it were to go to war. Turkey's decision to delay a parliamentary vote on allowing tens of thousands of U.S. troops to be based in the country came after a meeting Friday with President Bush about increasing an aid package stalled. A senior White House official told CNN on Tuesday that Washington was not giving in to any warnings. "The president said he had gone as far he was going to go and told them they had a decision to make," the official said. "They appear to have concluded that was a bluff and they could get more. It was not a bluff." The United States has offered about $6 billion in grants and $15-$20 billion in loan guarantees, diplomats said. Turkey argues that its losses from a drop in tourism, higher oil prices and soaring interest rates on foreign debt would far exceed that. Erdogan told parliament Tuesday: "Our American friends should not consider [that] the decision made by parliament on modernizing bases and ports means we have set off on an irreversible path of support. "If our support has value for the United States, then the United States needs to keep in mind our sensitivities." Turkish officials said a foreign ministry undersecretary delivered a list of proposals late Monday to the U.S. ambassador to Turkey. Diplomats said Turkey's main request was for more compensation. The Turkish public remains overwhelmingly opposed to participating in a war. Pentagon's other optionsWhen asked about the impasse with Turkey, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "It is decision time." Fleischer told reporters that the debate about the United States using Turkish bases would be "settled one way or another rather soon." Even if Turkey denies the United States access, he said, the White House would "continue to work with Turkey as a friend." Most U.S. troops in the region are based in Kuwait, south of Iraq. (Troops ready in Kuwait) The United States would use Turkey as a forward base for 40,000 troops intended to invade Iraq from the north, creating a "second front" that U.S. officials say could shorten a war. The U.S. military has at least two back-up plans for a military thrust into northern Iraq, according to Pentagon sources. But they say the options are not as good as having troops in Turkey and that the United States must know soon whether Turkey will grant permission to use its bases. One factor driving the timetable is that equipment for U.S. soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division is on ships en route to Turkey. Those ships will need to be diverted to Kuwait if the United States does not reach an agreement with Turkey soon, sources said. Pentagon sources said one plan would be for the United States to essentially drive equipment and thousands of troops north from southern Iraq and the staging areas in the Persian Gulf region. That would require several days, plus a "permissive environment," sources said. Another option would be for U.S. troops to take control of an airfield in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Then, the United States could potentially land C-130 aircraft to unload troops and heavy combat equipment. The airfield could also be used as a base for paratroopers and for helicopters that would ferry air-assault troops. One challenge would be the difficulty of coordinating constant takeoffs and landings at remote airfields, which would be necessary to put sufficient combat power on the ground in a relatively short period of time. -- CNN correspondent Jane Arraf and senior White House correspondent John King contributed to this report.
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Our American friends should not consider [that] the decision made by parliament on modernising bases and ports means we have set off on an irreversible path of support.
