BUSH SAYS IRAQI WAR WAS EXTENDED BECAUSE OF TURKEY
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has again blamed Turkey for a failure
of the Pentagon's "shock and awe" strategy against Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.U.S. President George Bush said Turkey's refusal to allow American
forces to enter that country to form a second front in northern Iraq was a
major blow to the coalition against Saddam. Bush said the result was that
Saddam was able to concentrate all of his forces around Baghdad.Bush said the absence of a northern front reduced the element of
surprise against the Saddam regime. The result, he said, was an improvement
in Iraqi combat as Saddam moved his forces from north to south."Shock and awe said to many people that all we've got to do is unleash
some might and people will crumble," Bush said in a television interview on
Thursday. "And it turns out the fighters were a lot fiercer than we thought.
Because, for example, we didn't come north from Turkey, Saddam Hussein was
able to move a lot of special Republican Guard units and fighters from north
to south. So the resistance for our troops moving south and north was
significant resistance."
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