Lyssa BeyerPeace and democracy. These two terms have been used together ever since the fall of the USSR, implying how the spread of democracy around the world will avoid the type of military conflict seen between non-democracies throughout history. People in the United States are largely behind the idea of peace through democracy, illustrated by President Bush using the “spread of democracy” as one of the justifications for going to war with Iraq.
But a threat to this ideology is looming in the near future. The Turkish military incursion into the Kurd-controlled northern Iraq could put the liberalist thought of democracy leading to peace in jeopardy. Though the U.S. government successfully downplayed Turkey’s actions, the implications of their breaching of Iraq’s northern border are disturbing in their scope. We are on the brink of a military conflict between two democracies, an event unseen throughout
history. If that were to happen, U.S. foreign and economic policies would be null as the idea of peace through the spread of democracy would be shattered in the eyes of the world community.
The Turkish military rolled into the largely autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on Feb. 21 to root out the Kurdistan Workers Party – the PKK – which Turkey claims has bases in the northern part of the country. Though Turkey has now pulled out of the area, the Kurdish government said non-military structures and locations were targeted by the Turkish military, raising fears of an eventual large scale invasion into the region. The Iraqi government also didn’t appreciate this violation of its sovereignty, particularly because of the oil fields in the northern region of Iraq.
Certainly, the PKK is an extremist group not representative of the Kurds as a whole, and Turkey’s offensive against the guerrilla group shouldn’t be condemned, particularly by the United States seeing as we did the same thing in Afghanistan. But the danger lies in if Turkey can’t keep its attacks focused on the PKK. What if this offensive leads to more numerous and more violent terrorist activities in Turkey? That’s what happens whenever Israel conducts similar military operations into Palestine, so it’s not cynical to think the same would happen in this case. It would be naive to expect the PKK not to respond in some manner to Turkey’s assaults, and since Turkey escalated their campaign against the PKK, the group can be expected to escalate in return.
Some devastating PKK-led attack would lead to a response of some kind on Turkey’s part. How far would the Turks go into Kurdistan this time around? The estimated 10,000 troops Turkey sent this last incursion would be bumped up substantially. The definition of a rebel could be blurred if the PKK starts hiding in civilian areas just as insurgents in central and southern Iraq have done against us. Turkey’s war against the PKK could turn into a war against Kurdistan if the Kurdish government doesn’t aid or even impedes Turkey’s military operations, similar to what we did against Afghanistan when the Taliban refused to turn over al-Qaida operatives following Sept. 11.
And this all assumes Turkey plays fair in its campaigns against the PKK. The Turkish government could claim the group is working out of the oil rich, Kurd-controlled Kirkuk, then invading and setting up camp in the city claiming security reasons. This isn’t out of the realm of possibility as Turkey’s southern region has been struggling economically for years now and controlling Kirkuk’s oil fields could be the cure for that.
So what is the United States to do? We are allies with Turkey, the Kurds and Iraq, all of whom would have some sort of stake in the matter if Turkey were to up its military strikes against the PKK. What it would ultimately come down to would be who we stand to gain the most by supporting. The Kurds offer us little more than loyalty at this point, and the Iraqi government, who would certainly object to Turkish incursions to the level of Kirkuk, seems to be becoming more of a pet project for our government rather than a substantial partner.
But Turkey, our NATO ally, is the most westernized country in the Middle East outside of Israel and, more importantly, a democracy. The United States should absolutely not aid or join forces with the Kurdish or Iraqi military if it were to enter combat against Turkey, no matter if Turkey is engaging in an illegal war or not. To do so would set a dangerous precedent of democracies waging war on one another, effectively killing the United States’ mantra of peace by spreading democracy. If the Turks want Kirkuk, we should let them have it.
Siding with Turkey won’t come without its costs, though. The Kurds would never aid us in security measures in Iraq again if they were somehow able to fend off the Turkish military. Iraq would certainly abandon and vilify us if we failed to defend its northern territory, making all the time, money and lives we poured into the country mean nothing. The insurgents would be emboldened by our betrayal of Iraq, so the attacks on our troops in the country would skyrocket.
This is all avoidable if Turkey limits its attacks to just the PKK or if the Kurdish and Iraqi governments are cooperative in aiding Turkey against the guerrilla group. The United States needs to keep diplomatic ties open with all three groups as well, acting as a mediator in case tensions begin to boil over. Confidence in our open communications and economic ties with Turkey should be enough to avoid this conflict. But our government must remain vigilant in the coming weeks and months – a democracy vs. democracy war would set back U.S. foreign and economic policy 100 years, shattering our current notion of what brings about peace.
Langton is a senior print journalism major and editorial editor of The Spectator. “What a Scoop!” appears every Thursday.
