{"id":21450,"date":"2010-08-21T22:03:43","date_gmt":"2010-08-21T20:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=21450"},"modified":"2023-04-04T18:47:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T15:47:55","slug":"iran-poised-to-fill-vacuum-after-u-s-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/08\/21\/iran-poised-to-fill-vacuum-after-u-s-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran poised to fill vacuum after U.S. withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Richard Engel, NBC chief foreign correspondent<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

BAGHDAD – Every conversation I have in Iraq these days reaches back in history. When I ask policemen, government officials or Iraqi journalists what they think will happen after U.S. combat troops leave at the end of this month, our discussions inevitably become two-hour examinations of Islamic and Middle Eastern history. This is not simply an American pullout. Here August 2010 is seen as a turning point for Iraq.<\/p>\n

The biggest concern many Iraqis seem to have is that the U.S. combat withdrawal will leave a power vacuum that will be filled by Iraq\u2019s traditional rival and longtime enemy, Persian Iran.<\/strong> For seven years the United States has exerted its influence in Iraq bluntly, sending in troops, tanks and contractors. Iran\u2019s strategy to influence its neighbor has been slower, cheaper, but also effective.<\/p>\n

In the early 16th century, just a few decades after Christopher Columbus landed on America\u2019s shores, the last great Islamic empire was fighting to rule the Middle East, the Mediterranean and the rest of the world. From his capital on the Bosporus, Istanbul, the hero of the Ottoman Empire Sultan Suliman \u201cThe Magnificent\u201d seemed undefeatable. Suliman\u2019s mission was to impose Ottoman domination around the globe. His call to war was jihad. Suliman believed he was a Muslim successor to the Roman Caesars. He liked to be called Caesar. Suliman\u2019s dream was to unite the world under one ruler and one God. Suliman\u2019s ability to raise soldiers, build warships and transport armies was unmatched by his Christian adversaries in Europe. Suliman skillfully used North African corsairs, Christian mercenaries and slaves and an elite corps of riflemen armed with arquebuses to spread the Ottoman superpower.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While European armies fought Suliman with stone-ball cannons, swords and \u201cGreek Fire\u201d – a medieval flamethrower – one city-state tried a different approach to confront the Ottomans. The Venetians were the great shippers of the age. It was a lucrative trade that made the people of St. Mark so wealthy they built their almost magical capital on water. Despite their riches, the Venetians knew they could never confront Suliman in a direct flight. So the Venetians played coy and used politics. The Venetian strategy was to undermine the Ottoman Empire from within.<\/strong> They spied relentlessly on the Ottoman court, the \u201cSublime Porte\u201d in Istanbul\u2019s opulent Topkapi palace. They bribed Ottoman officials handsomely. They bought Suilman\u2019s advisers summarily. It allowed the Venetians to confront a superpower, at least for a while.<\/p>\n

Five centuries years later, many Iraqis believe Iran has played a similar game with the United States in Iraq. Iran knew it could never take on American army divisions and Air Force wings in a direct confrontation in Iraq. So Iran infiltrated the Iraqi government. <\/strong>For seven years Iran has spied relentlessly on Iraqi governments in the Topkapi of today, Baghdad\u2019s grim, prison-like Green Zone. Iran has bribed Iraqi officials handsomely<\/strong>. Iran has bought Iraqi advisers summarily. It has allowed Iran to confront a superpower, at least for a while.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran could well be the biggest benefactor of the American withdrawal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard Engel will be providing special coverage throughout the U.S. drawdown. Check back here at\u00a0worldblog.msnbc.com<\/span> and at\u00a0nightly.msnbc.com<\/span> to follow his reports.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Richard Engel, NBC chief foreign correspondent BAGHDAD – Every conversation I have in Iraq these days reaches back in history. When I ask policemen, government officials or Iraqi journalists what they think will happen after U.S. combat troops leave at the end of this month, our discussions inevitably become two-hour examinations of Islamic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":782328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,43,34],"tags":[3451,3452,3453,3454],"class_list":["post-21450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran_","category-iraq","category-usa","tag-persian-iran","tag-sultan-suliman-the-magnificent","tag-the-ottoman-superpower","tag-the-venetians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}