Iraqi thoughts on troop withdrawal

[legacyofCangelosi]

Iraqis warn of civil war if U.S. troops withdraw By Waleed Ibrahim and Ahmed Rasheed

33 minutes ago

 

 

 

Iraqi leaders warned on Monday that an early U.S. troop withdrawal could tip Iraq into all-out civil war after the New York Times said debate was growing in the White House over a gradual scaling-down of forces.

 

The stark comments from politicians across the sectarian divide followed a wave of bombings and shootings in Iraq at the weekend that killed 250 people.

 

"This could produce a civil war, partition of the country and a regional war. We might see the country collapse," Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, told a news conference when asked about the New York Times report.

 

Citing administration officials and consultants, the Times said these officials feared the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq strategy were "collapsing around them."

 

It said debate was intensifying over whether Bush should try to prevent more Republican defections by announcing intentions for a gradual pull-out of troops from high-casualty areas.

 

More than 330 American soldiers were killed in Iraq during the April-June quarter, making it the deadliest three months for U.S. troops since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Overall, 3,606 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died.

 

Iraqi officials said the country's own security forces were not ready and warned a premature withdrawal of some of the 157,000 American troops could produce a security vacuum.

 

"We in Iraq believe, not just the government, but all political parties, that the presence of these forces is necessary to prevent increasing violence and to stop the country sliding into civil war," Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told Reuters.

 

Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, speaking to Reuters by telephone, said:

 

"I would be very happy to see the last American soldier leave today ... We understand their worry about not seeing much political progress in Iraq. But the problem is: who will fill the security vacuum if these forces withdraw?"

 

Hashemi repeated his comments from Sunday that Iraqis had the right to take up arms to defend themselves in the wake of unrelenting violence that threatens to tear the country apart.

 

In fresh violence, a roadside bomb killed nine Iraqi soldiers and wounded 20 others as they traveled in a truck near the town of Balad in Salahuddin province, police said.

 

Roadside bombs also killed six people and wounded nearly 30 in Baghdad, police said.

 

POLITICAL DEADLOCK

 

The pressure on Bush from within his Republican Party comes only weeks after the last of the 28,000 troop reinforcements he sent to Iraq for a major security crackdown arrived.

 

The push, launched in February, aims to curb violence and win time for Maliki to bring disaffected minority Sunni Arabs more into the political process.

 

But there is skepticism Iraq's leaders will meet political benchmarks aimed at fostering reconciliation. Only one of several key laws has been submitted to parliament.

 

Bush and his aides thought they could wait to begin talks about any change in strategy until September 15, when the U.S. commander in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador must present a report on Iraq's security and political progress, the Times said.

 

But these aides acknowledged it appeared forces were converging against Bush just as the Senate prepares this week to begin what promises to be a contentious debate on the war's future and financing, the newspaper said.

 

The administration must deliver an interim report to Congress by July 15 on Iraq, and an increasing number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for a change in Bush's strategy.

 

Four more Republican senators have declared they can no longer support the strategy.

 

As a result, the newspaper said, aides are telling Bush that if he wants to forestall more defections, it would be wiser to announce plans for a far more narrowly defined mission for U.S. troops that would allow for a staged pullback.

 

(Additional reporting by Philip Barbara in Washington and Mussab Al-Khairalla and Alister Bull in Baghdad))

 

 

 

Copyright ? 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

[Guest Festa]

Oh well. You guys had your shot.

 

Bring our boys and girls home.

[legacyofCangelosi]

I want to hear futuregm's take on this matter.

[Jimmy42Jack0]

im sorry...when i care about iraqi's...then ill go fight...but i dont...and would just rather see our guys back safely...that way we can spend billions on preventing the next 9/11 rather than encouraging it

[Flying_Mollusk]

How do the Iraqi people feel? Should we find a poll where the mass majority of them want us out?

[Accord]

Oh well. You guys had your shot.

 

Bring our boys and girls home.

No.

[BullDurham]

Welcome back Accord! Are you still in Iraq? I can at least value your opinion b/c you're over there, as opposed to some others over here.

[Passion]

Welcome back Accord! Are you still in Iraq? I can at least value your opinion b/c you're over there, as opposed to some others over here.

Please don't comment on the presidency (you're not and haven't been a president!), congress (you're not and haven't been a congressman!) or the environment (you're not and haven't been a scientist!) then.

 

kthx

 

How ridiculous is that logic.

[Guest Festa]

Welcome back Accord! Are you still in Iraq? I can at least value your opinion b/c you're over there, as opposed to some others over here.

Please don't comment on the presidency (you're not and haven't been a president!), congress (you're not and haven't been a congressman!) or the environment (you're not and haven't been a scientist!) then.

 

kthx

 

How ridiculous is that logic.

 

CHEERLEADER! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK!!!???

[prinmemito]

Welcome back Accord! Are you still in Iraq? I can at least value your opinion b/c you're over there, as opposed to some others over here.

Please don't comment on the presidency (you're not and haven't been a president!), congress (you're not and haven't been a congressman!) or the environment (you're not and haven't been a scientist!) then.

 

kthx

 

How ridiculous is that logic.

 

CHEERLEADER! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK!!!???

 

:lol

[BullDurham]

(you're not and haven't been a scientist!)

 

Uh, I AM a scientist. BS in biology at Duke, 8 days away from advancing to Ph.D candidacy in biochemistry/molecular genetics at Pitt.

[legacyofCangelosi]

How do the Iraqi people feel? Should we find a poll where the mass majority of them want us out?

 

The article clearly says that they would love to see us gone, but that they fear it may be for the worst for us to leave.

 

We shouldnt have gone in to begin with, but I'll defer to Accord's knowledge on this issue since hes seen it for himself.

[The Fan]

How do the Iraqi people feel? Should we find a poll where the mass majority of them want us out?

 

The article clearly says that they would love to see us gone, but that they fear it may be for the worst for us to leave.

 

We shouldnt have gone in to begin with, but I'll defer to Accord's knowledge on this issue since hes seen it for himself.

 

That's the key right there. We shouldn't have gone in and when we did, it was basically under false pretenses.

[The Fan]

(you're not and haven't been a scientist!)

 

Uh, I AM a scientist. BS in biology at Duke, 8 days away from advancing to Ph.D candidacy in biochemistry/molecular genetics at Pitt.

:lol :lol :lol

[FutureGM]

The Iraqi government currently in power voted in favor of asking our military to leave.

 

There aren't any good solutions to this situation. Leaving is the best of these bad options, because it gets our soldiers out of the way.

 

The Iraqis aren't going to make any more steps in the right direction while we are still there. They refuse to take any real initiative as a government, or as a people. They also need to fight things out amongst themselves.

 

As people have noted before, we certainly wouldn't have appreciated the French solving our problems following the Revolutionary War. If they had tried to occupy the 13 colonies, we would have fought against them just like we did against the British. It's not that surprising that this is happening in Iraq. They just don't trust our motives, especially after four years of countless death and destruction.

[legacyofCangelosi]

The Iraqi government currently in power voted in favor of asking our military to leave.

 

There aren't any good solutions to this situation. Leaving is the best of these bad options, because it gets our soldiers out of the way.

 

The Iraqis aren't going to make any more steps in the right direction while we are still there. They refuse to take any real initiative as a government, or as a people. They also need to fight things out amongst themselves.

 

As people have noted before, we certainly wouldn't have appreciated the French solving our problems following the Revolutionary War. If they had tried to occupy the 13 colonies, we would have fought against them just like we did against the British. It's not that surprising that this is happening in Iraq. They just don't trust our motives, especially after four years of countless death and destruction.

 

 

But it seems as if in that report, theyre sayign they dont like us there but they need us there

[Passion]

(you're not and haven't been a scientist!)

 

Uh, I AM a scientist. BS in biology at Duke, 8 days away from advancing to Ph.D candidacy in biochemistry/molecular genetics at Pitt.

I apologize, Doc.

 

Please speak all you want on the subject but how dare you comment on a war when you are not a soldier, or foreign policy if not a diplomat, or...

[Dodge]

(you're not and haven't been a scientist!)

 

Uh, I AM a scientist. BS in biology at Duke, 8 days away from advancing to Ph.D candidacy in biochemistry/molecular genetics at Pitt.

I apologize, Doc.

 

Please speak all you want on the subject but how dare you comment on a war when you are not a soldier, or foreign policy if not a diplomat, or...

 

Nice job owning that one. :thumbup

[FutureGM]

The Iraqi government currently in power voted in favor of asking our military to leave.

 

There aren't any good solutions to this situation. Leaving is the best of these bad options, because it gets our soldiers out of the way.

 

The Iraqis aren't going to make any more steps in the right direction while we are still there. They refuse to take any real initiative as a government, or as a people. They also need to fight things out amongst themselves.

 

As people have noted before, we certainly wouldn't have appreciated the French solving our problems following the Revolutionary War. If they had tried to occupy the 13 colonies, we would have fought against them just like we did against the British. It's not that surprising that this is happening in Iraq. They just don't trust our motives, especially after four years of countless death and destruction.

 

 

But it seems as if in that report, theyre sayign they dont like us there but they need us there

The educated in Iraq seem to feel that way, but overall, the country's population is against us.

[Guest Festa]

(you're not and haven't been a scientist!)

 

Uh, I AM a scientist. BS in biology at Duke, 8 days away from advancing to Ph.D candidacy in biochemistry/molecular genetics at Pitt.

I apologize, Doc.

 

Please speak all you want on the subject but how dare you comment on a war when you are not a soldier, or foreign policy if not a diplomat, or...

 

MB.com should shut down because none of us have the experience of being professional baseball players and/or baseball executives.

[Dodge]

That whole bit is very silly.

 

Yes, people in the field undoubtedly have more clout when they speak on the subject, but implying the rest of humanity should "just shut up" is swinging the pendulum a bit far.

[FutureGM]

That whole bit is very silly.

 

Yes, people in the field undoubtedly have more clout when they speak on the subject, but implying the rest of humanity should "just shut up" is swinging the pendulum a bit far.

We have a winner.

[Passion]

That whole bit is very silly.

 

Yes, people in the field undoubtedly have more clout when they speak on the subject, but implying the rest of humanity should "just shut up" is swinging the pendulum a bit far.

Not our thought process, just BullDurham's.

[Dodge]

That whole bit is very silly.

 

Yes, people in the field undoubtedly have more clout when they speak on the subject, but implying the rest of humanity should "just shut up" is swinging the pendulum a bit far.

Not our thought process, just BullDurham's.

 

I don't think he was implying we shouldn't share our opinions - he just doesn't value any of them, notably the ones he doesn't agree with, which is his own problem.

[Passion]

That whole bit is very silly.

 

Yes, people in the field undoubtedly have more clout when they speak on the subject, but implying the rest of humanity should "just shut up" is swinging the pendulum a bit far.

Not our thought process, just BullDurham's.

 

I don't think he was implying we shouldn't share our opinions - he just doesn't value any of them, notably the ones he doesn't agree with, which is his own problem.

You are out of the 'loop'.

 

You must have missed this gem:

And I'm getting sick and tired of your mindless banter. You wanna put your mouth where your money is? You're of prime age. Sign up for the army! GO TO IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN ALREADY, CHEERLEADER!!! Lord knows we need more troops in Afghanistan. Although you're almost like Accord in terms of annoyance, at least I know he's walking the walk, unlike some other people these days.

So basically unless you are a soldier, you can not voice your support for the war as is (I don't) or middle east intervention (which I do) unless you are on the ground.

 

Just applying the logic.