I have real sympathy for Turkey and I am glad that we’ve apparently worked out a deal. This is not the case of a petulent ally trying to take advantage of us. First, the Turks were legitimately screwed by the US after the last war, losing billions after helping us out. The Turks wanted us to at least get rid of Saddam and we didn’t. A second gulf war will create real costs for the Turks and since this is an elective war and we need Turkey’s help they deserve some compensation. I don’t know where the cost-benefit line is, but my guess is that the Pentagon and the White House do. So any deal they cut is probably a deal worth cutting. Also, this war is unpopular with the Turkish public and Turkey is a democracy. Democratically elected governments need to offer their publics some rationale for going to war. And, because Turkey is a democracy, we’ll desperately need them as friends if we are going to tout them as the model for a post-Saddam Iraq.