Paradoxum

Obama said 10,000 people died in the recent tornado hits in Kansas. Actually, twelve people died. The town that was struck, Greensburg, KA, has 1,600 total residents. Check out the video…

On the first thread by this title Firebrand just posted the following:

I just read in World magazine that John MacCain said about the Iraq war. ” I disagree with what the majority of the American people want”

I found this very interesting in light of our recent discussion of the matter. Something to be taken into consideration with the war in Iraq, however, is that the American people are very uneducated about the war and hardly understand the situation. If our representatives know what is going on more than we do (I should hope so), then I would expect them to make the decision that is best for the people. Rousseau speaks at great length of the “general will” of the people. He says that although this general will always seeks the good of the people and does not intentionally err, it can indeed be led astray by misinformation or lack of information. The “general will” of the American people may be, in this case, to withdraw from the war, but that is not necessarily the best move.

Side note: I heard an incredible lecture last night by Stephen D. Biddle on the war in Iraq. The talk he gave was actually delayed a few weeks because he went to Iraq on a 20-member committee with General Patraeus (you know – the general in charge of the Iraq war). He, needless to say, has some authority on the matter. He confirmed my suspicion that leaving (cut-and-run) Iraq is the wrong next step. As soon as I can get my hands on the video I will post it – it is well worth watching. Besides being the best guest lecture I have heard this year, it was the best thing I have heard/read about Iraq yet.

According to the the Turkish Press, “Turkey`s top court ruled Tuesday that a first round parliamentary vote to elect a new president was invalid, a decision that could lead the Islamist-rooted government to call early general elections.”

Apparently, in parliament’s initial vote, not enough were present to make the vote valid – 361 compared to the necessary 367.

This is obviously a victory for the secularist Republican People’s Party. The next step, apparently, is to have the general elections (for parliament I presume) moved up from November to within the next 45 to 90 days.

I am not perfectly clear as to what this accomplishes, but I as far as I can tell this would allow the people to change the currently AKP dominated parliament. Parliament being the body to choose the president, this may prevent the election of the Islamist Gul. Again, this is my take on the matter. A kink in this understanding is that the current president’s (Erdogan) term expires May 16. Perhaps the courts ruling will slow the presidential election enough to allow for general elections to happen first.

A couple of things I failed to mention in the first post:

Turkey is currently attempting to gain membership in the European Union. The threat of the military’s involvement in the democratic process has certainly not helped their chances. Members of the European Union, like Tony Blair, are stressing the importance of this situation being played out in accordance to Turkey’s democratic constitution.

Also, Turkey’s economy has been making progress in leaps and bounds. The Istanbul stock exchange, however, fell 4% yesterday and has fallen 2% so far today. Investors are nervous, and see early elections as a financial “life ring.” This instability threatens Turkey’s process of “reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, which [Turkey] is seeking to join.”

Keep up to date here.

Within the last week (and even today) over a million people have taken to the streets of Istanbul and elsewhere to call for the government’s resignation. It is clash of secularism vs. Islam.

Although 50% of Turks claim to be Muslim, there is a strong tradition of secularism. Very strong, in fact – women are forbidden from wearing head scarves in public.

Clashing with this is the likely election of current foreign minister Abdullah Gul to the presidency later this month. Gul is an Islamist whose wife wears the head scarf. He is running unopposed, and will most likely be chosen by the Islamist (Islamic Justice and Development Party [AKP]) dominated parliament (a screwy election system if you ask me).

The tradition of secularism was laid down by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) following WWI. Ataturk, after seizing power in 1923 westernized and secularized Turkey (no head scarves, men must wear western clothing, etc). Indeed, he is the father of modern day Turkey. This is still present in the people’s mind. Some see the Islamist movement as a direct affront to Ataturk and his secular tradition.

Making this situation a bit more interesting is the role of the military. The military is fiercely secular, and has shown through multiple coups (as recently as 1997) that is willing to defend secularism. The military has joined the protesters in their cause by issuing a warning to the government regarding Gul’s election.

Some fear another military coup in the coming the weeks. While this seems like a very real possibility, the Economist does not think this will be the case.

When Ataturk ruled Turkey, he did so with the support of the educated elite. It is still these people who defend secularism.

What’s more, and what may take a back seat for a while, is that the leaders of Pakistan Afghanistan just arrived in Turkey to settle a border dispute. As one article put it, they may be just in time to witness history in the making, or rather, history continuing to play out in this volatile country.

I could provide many links to current news articles about this, but if things keep progressing as they have been, the article will be old by the time you get around to clicking it. Rather, click here to go to a Google News search of “Turkey” – their news articles are updated continuously.