Voice of the White House
August 21, 2016

Washington, D.C.: The West, led by the United States, has always viewed Turkey with its large and capable military as an asset. The Armenian massacres were put away and forgotten and Turkey was used as a base of operations against the Soviet Union. The country has had more CIA personnel inside its borders than any other country (aside from Germany, which is packed with them). When Russia began to assist Assad in Syria in his fight against American-backed rebels, his bombing raids totally disrupted the flow of looted Syrian oil to Turkey where their President and members of his family were able to profit greatly from the thefts. The Russian attacks on the rebels also killed a number of CIA personnel who were in place, training them. It was then suggested by instigators that the Turks could punish Russia, a traditional enemy, for their aerial slaughter of American agents and the interdiction of Syrian oil by making a statement. That statement was to shoot down a Russian bomber and warn Russia it had gone too far. Turkey was also assured of 'unconditional Western support (via NATO) in the event of Russian military intervention.' Instead of sending in Russian troops, Putin clamped economic sanctions on Turkey that were extremely costly for the Turks but were insufficient to permit NATO to respond. The West did nothing but wring their hands and the once-reliable Turks began to look for allies elsewhere. Moynihan was right when he said: ‘For a quarter of a century the CIA has been repeatedly wrong about every major political and economic question entrusted to its analysis.'