The U.S. general, David Petraeus, who was assigned to Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, said in an interview he gave to the BBC that there was no conflict between Turkey and the U.S. in the context of the Iraq operation, adding that the U.S. remained with its two allies.
The remark was issued after a motion allowing the Turkish military to participate in the invasion of Iraq was overruled by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) on March 1, 2003. But more importantly, the general referred to both the independent state of Turkey and Iraq, which was under occupation, as allies. Some clues to the declining global prestige of the U.S. can be found in those words.
George W. Bush was the U.S. president at the time, and now we have Donald Trump in that seat. But nothing seems to have changed since then. The U.S. invaded Iraq on the grounds that the country "might be affiliated with al-Qaida" or "might have weapons of mass destruction." But the U.S. only remained a mere spectator and suggested equanimity when Turkey, a U.S. ally for half a century, was targeted by terrorists heading from Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion. On top of that, the U.S. has also been arming the outlawed PKK's Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
In a nutshell, being a U.S. ally does not mean anything. Given that the country protects the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and merely watches the activities of the coup plotters, you can see the dangers of being a U.S. ally. And seemingly, Israel is the only true ally to the U.S. in the Middle East. The U.S. supported and approved of Israel when it occupied Lebanon because two of their soldiers were kidnapped. But the country has only recommended patience to Turkey in its counterterror fight.
So, how can it be accepted by the international conscience that the U.S. represents North Korea as a nuclear threat while disregarding its own nuclear armament? In other words, the U.S. sets an example to how a superpower can humiliate itself. And as of late, Trump has condoned neo-Nazis across the U.S. who aim to bring the country back to the Dark Ages only because they constitute his base. In the midst of this upheaval, the names of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are cited in racist rhetoric. However, ironically, the U.S. has now become reminiscent of Iraq, which it invaded and where it wreaked havoc years ago.
