Carpet bombing is considered an important tool for placating the public and is also implemented as a means to demoralize the enemy. In this strategy, militaries select a target that they drop bombs on via fighter aircraft while simultaneously opening gunfire on the target.
During this kind of bombing, it is not always expected that the enemy -- in our case the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists -- will remain in place. But such a strategy gives the impression to the public that the Turkish state has already started bombing terrorist targets, no matter whether any disabling of the terrorists will actually be achieved.
But this policy is hoped to at least soothe public fury so that decision-makers can devise policies that will not push Turkey into a quagmire.
The current front-page reports in the Turkish media give a strong clue that the Turkish state has been pursuing a carpet bombing strategy as part of psychological warfare to assuage public fury at increased violence perpetrated by the PKK.
Mass demonstrations have been taking place all over Turkey with the expectation that the Turkish military will invade northern Iraq to crack down on the PKK terrorists, while the danger of an internal conflict among Kurds and Turks has appeared on the horizon. In its front-page news on Oct. 28, the Radikal daily reported sporadic incidents of attacks against Turks assumed to be of Kurdish origin.
Yet while there have been attempts to lessen public outrage against the PKK through psychological warfare, the possibility of a vote by the US House of Representatives on a resolution labeling the deaths of Armenians in 1915 at the hands of Ottoman Turks as genocide has continued to remain an issue of tension, adding more fuel to the Turkish desire to invade northern Iraq.
If the vague reports coming from the US saying the vote has been postponed turn out to be correct, then this will take away some of the immediate strain on the Turkish government, which has increasingly come under strong pressure for an all-out invasion of northern Iraq.
A decision to postpone the resolution is expected to avert any possible irrational steps that might be taken by Turkish decision-makers concerning northern Iraq.
It has become highly important at this stage that common sense prevail in Turkey so that decision-makers can make the right decisions, decisions that will not have long-term negative effects on the country.
States prove their maturity during crisis situations, and Turkey has been going through the delicate process of proving whether it has been acting in a statesman-like manner.
Acting in a rational manner during moments of crisis is the first test Turkey should pass. Once the dust has settled and if it is settled with the implementation of cool-headed policies, then Turkey will go through a crucial test of the degree of its maturity.
The only way to prove this maturity is through acting courageously and pragmatically, seeking rational solutions to the problems that have been taking Turkey captive for decades.
*The phrase carpet bombing refers to the use of large numbers of unguided gravity bombs, often with a high proportion of incendiary bombs, to attempt the complete destruction of a target region, either to destroy personnel and materiel, or as a means of demoralizing the enemy. The phrase probably is intended to invoke the image of bombs completely covering an area, in the same way that a carpet covers a floor. Initially, carpet bombing was effected by multiple aircraft, often returning to the target in waves. Wikipedia
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