I’m sorry, what?
There is a sudden chorus of voices calling for us to pull our troops out of Iraq because they might now be in danger after Trump’s foolish and extreme assassination criteria as anything that helps distract from an Impeachment priority check list?
Don’t get me wrong, I most certainly believe we need to leave Iraq, but not because our troops are now finally in real danger, but because we are training the Iraqi Army, who recently have started turning those trained soldiers on their own civilians…
Iraq protests death toll rises to 319 with nearly 15,000 injured
At least 319 people have been killed in Iraq since the start of anti-government protests in October, according to the Iraqi Parliamentary Human Rights Committee.
…We should be leaving Iraq because this dishonourable war has propped up corrupt regimes, seen our own soldiers stain their honour and whatever good faith we have spent, Trump just blew up.
We are training their soldiers who are now being turned against their own civilian population, how the Christ is that nation building and why the hell is a progressive liberal democracy helping that corrupted process?
Sure, bring the soldiers home now, but to use their safety as the reason is disgusting. Fuck our safety, how about the safety of the civilians who are now facing soldiers we trained?
The trigger thresholds as to when we decide to be ethical have to be far more noble than the fear of coffins flying home.
Quite right that we should never have gone there Martyn, but the reason we should now leave is because the Iraqi government has asked us to. And we should do so promptly.
D J S
“….because we are training the Iraqi Army, who recently have started turning those trained soldiers on their own civilians…”
I note that this article uses links to CNN stories.
Since when have we been able to accept as truth anything out of the US media outlets?
Does any of us know exactly what’s happening in Iraq or Lebanon? Do we know who is fomenting the protests? We do not.
But – given what’s been happening there over many years, and given the US desire to keep troops in that part of the world – I suspect that agents provocateur are at work.
And – absent countervailing evidence – it looks to me like the fell hand of the CIA, via one or more of its NGOs.
So yes: I think NZ troops ought to be brought home for their own safety. Were one of them your offspring, I’m certain that you’d agree. In my view, they ought never to have been there in the first place.
“…how about the safety of the civilians who are now facing soldiers we trained?”
I reiterate: none of us knows what the hell is going on there. And CNN most certainly cannot be relied upon for anything other than propaganda.
“The trigger thresholds as to when we decide to be ethical have to be far more noble than the fear of coffins flying home.”
There has been nothing ethical about NZ’s involvement anywhere in that part of the world.
The truly ethical thing for NZ to have done in the first place would have been to stay out: no troops there for any reason whatsoever.
Since this country’s moral compass has been askew, certainly over the last 30-ish years, and probably since the Korean war, the ethical thing to do now is to get the hell out, and to stay out. The only relationship NZ should have with polities in the ME is one of trade.
“the ethical thing to do now is to get the hell out, and to stay out. The only relationship NZ should have with polities in the ME is one of trade.”
Totally agree.
Let’s hope Jacinda pulls NZ troops out of Iraq quick smart. No need for NZ military to be part of the US led coalition in the middle east, or anywhere else for that matter, other than in the Pacific, which is the part of the world our armed forces should be protecting and working.
No war is a good war. The only winners are the arms manufacturers, along with the body bag suppliers! Sickening!
Some of the corporate war profiteers at this link
Cheers Kheala for the link … predatory scavengers, gorging themselves full from the spilt blood of war!
Just to be clear, “Iraq’s parliament voted in an extraordinary session Sunday [5th Jan 2020] to expel all American troops from the country and file a United Nations complaint against the U.S. for violating Iraq’s sovereignty with its assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.”
—
“The U.S. assassination [of] Soleimani on Iraqi soil was met with fierce condemnation from Iraq’s foreign ministry and the prime minister, who called the drone strike a violation of the nation’s sovereignty.
“What happened was a political assassination,” Mahdi said. “Iraq cannot accept this.”
“In a previously undisclosed detail one observer described as “stunning,” Mahdi [Iraq’s outgoing PM] said Soleimani was in Baghdad to meet with him about a Saudi request for dialogue to relieve tensions in the region — not, as the U.S. has claimed, to plan attacks against American forces.”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/05/iraqi-parliament-votes-expel-all-american-troops-and-submit-un-complaint-against-us
“to expel all American troops from the country”
Apparently that was “all foreign troops”. Here is their parliamentary resolution from Aljazeera
“The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read.
“The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”
(Added note at that link, “Parliament resolutions, unlike laws, are non-binding and the move would require new legislation to cancel the existing agreement.”)
Nope, the NZ troops there should seize hold of the government and stage a coup, thus annexing Iraq for NZ Inc., safeguarding cheap oil supplies for the NZers loved SUVs.
New Zealanders are weak. Raise petrol prices a few cents and they are willing to overthrow the government. Compare that with the Venezuelan people whose entire economy has been crushed but still haven’t caved in to American pressure.
The Venezuelan people have seen fantastic progress in their lives with better land share, housing, education, literacy and hope for the future in fighting the neoliberal monster.
Kiwis have seen the opposite
John W: “Kiwis have seen the opposite”
Exactly.
This is a great blog. Don’t f it up. What’s with the ‘ comments ended ‘ ? When did that happen? Why were comments limited. I enjoyed the unlimited aspect to it. I belatedly read the thread only to find I can’t comment. They have ceased.
Melania was saying the other day! “Oh dont worry. Donald has never pulled out of anything in his life! Well, other than Vietnam, but, that was well before my time.”
Meaning, little ole NZ will be staying put.
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