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Title: Iraq 'can manage' without Aussie troops
Source:
The Australian
URL Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.a ... 0,20867,21255401-29277,00.html
Published: Feb 20, 2007
Author: AAP
Post Date: 2007-02-19 14:40:35 by scrapper2
Keywords: Australia, Iraq, troop strength
Views: 27
Comments: 1
Iraq could manage without Australian troops if it was given advance warning of any withdrawal, a senior Iraqi government figure said. Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi was asked about the consequences of Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's plan to withdraw troops if Labor won the next election. "As far as the combat forces, if they decide to withdraw ... if this can be done through an agreed program with the Iraqis with the timing, I think then we can manage," Mr Abbawi told ABC television last night. "But by the time they decide to withdraw, we hope that Australia (would have given) help in training our forces to take up the place of the withdrawn Australian forces." He said if Australia withdrew abruptly and unilaterally, without prior arrangement, it would have negative consequences. "But if this is done through an agreed timetable, and as they withdraw we can replace them with Iraqi forces, well trained Iraqi forces, then I think we can minimise the effect," he said. Asked if the withdrawal would send a negative signal to the US and Britain, Mr Abbawi said: "No ... if it is done with an agreement and consultation, I don't think it will create much problem." Mr Abbawi's position appears to place him at odds with Prime Minister John Howard, who has said the withdrawal of Australian troops would send a negative signal to Australia's allies. But Mr Abbawi said the US was still needed in Iraq and he cautioned against a premature withdrawal of all forces. "Yes, definitely that will be interpreted as victory for these forces, these terrorists," he said. "I hope any decision to be taken by the United States would take into consideration how they should keep the commitments to help the Iraqis and not to leave the job half done." Australia has about 1300 troops around Iraq, while the US has about 100 times that number. Mr Abbawi welcomed Prime Minister John Howard's decision to send an additional 70 non-combat troops to Iraq to train the country's police and military. "I think it's a very good decision," Mr Abbawi said. "We do need now a lot of efforts to help train our forces and to make them ready to take up the security responsibility themselves." Mr Abbawi said sending non-combat troops was a non-controversial decision that would be supported by all political forces in the west. He said a decision to commit even more troops was up to Australia and what the country was able to offer.
Poster Comment: So the Iraqi Defense Minister undercuts T.H.E. Howard poodle's comments that withdrawing Aussie troops would send a "negative message." HAHAHA. I love it! This is just what the doctor ordered for Howard's pre-election ills which shows he is running behind in the polls due to his stubborn position on maintaining troops in Iraq inspite of the fact that the majority of Aussie public wanting their troops brought home.
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#1. To: scrapper2 (#0)
Hell, he can manage without US troops. All he needs is taxpayer $$ to overpay a bunch of unaccountable violent mercenaries. And when they are attacked, killed and desecrated, we raze a city. The Bush administration has shown itself more than willing to call in Blackwater in place of U.S. troops. (these are old #s)In Aug. 2003, the Bush administration awarded Blackwater a $21.3 million contract to guard then Amb. Paul Bremer. The average senior special operations officer makes $50,000 a year from the U.S. government. Employees in private security firms in Iraq often make more than $1,000 a day from government contracts. This arrangement is “depleting the ranks of the special forces,” luring them into lucrative private jobs. Some military analysts initially welcomed the administration’s private security arrangement with Blackwater because it allowed “regular military troops to concentrate on fighting.” But Blackwater’s new proposal would shift some of the fighting to the private sector, further diminishing the role of the all-volunteer army. And they are not limited to foreign soil: What I see possible in the future, is Bush et al. holed up in Paraguay with their highly paid and therefore "loyal" mercenaries, guarding them from justice.
Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is. ~George W. Bush 
This week at a conference in Jordan, Blackwater USA vice chairman Cofer Black announced that the private security company is ready to shift from a security role to a more “overt combat role,” essentially becoming an army for hire.
Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
(About the quote: Speaking on the war in Kosovo.)
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