Spain withdrawing troops as Iraq toll mounts
CTV.ca News Staff
As word of mounting casualties filters out of Iraq, Spain's new Prime Minister has fulfilled a promise to pull his troops out of the war-scarred country.
In an announcement only hours after his new socialist government was sworn into office, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the order -- to bring Spain's 1,300 troops home in "as short a time as possible."
His call comes as the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq continues to register a growing death toll.
At least 10 American troops have been reported killed this weekend, in ambushes across Iraq. Among the latest were five U.S. Marines killed Saturday, in clashes with heavily armed guerrillas near the Syrian border.
"A day-long series of firefights began...when a Marine patrol reported they were under fire by enemy forces wielding machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades," the 1st Marine Division said in a statement.
Between 25 and 30 guerrillas were killed in the fighting, the military said.
The latest American deaths bring to at least 503 the number killed in action in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion last March.
The 104 killed in combat so far this month already exceeds the total U.S. personnel killed during the official three-week "major offensive" that ousted Hussein.
Meanwhile, a fragile truce appears to holding in Fallujah, where the bloodiest fighting since Saddam Hussein's fall has been centred in recent weeks.
A spokesperson for rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that his Mehdi Army militia will observe a ceasefire in the holy city of Najaf for two days, as commemorations mark the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad's death.
But recognizing that the U.S. still has some 2,500 Marines surrounding the city -- poised to follow orders for al-Sadr's capture or death -- Qays al-Khazali struck a defiant note.
"The Americans are escalating the situation and the Mehdi Army is ready," he said at a news conference.
In other developments Sunday:
Five civilians were reported killed overnight, as they fled U.S. shelling in thetown of Karma, near Fallujah.
In a nod to the month's deadly toll in civilian lives, Iraq's U.S. Governor Paul Bremer said in a speech that Shiites and Sunnis who "want to shoot their way to power" would be stopped, but "They will be dealt with in a manner that reduces the loss of innocent blood to the minimum possible."
The British defense ministry said two British soldiers suffered non-life threatening injuries the day before, when their convoy came under fire in the southern town of Amarah.
U.S. military officials said a U.S. soldier had been by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Saturday. Another three U.S. troops were killed in the southern town of Diwaniya when their convoy was ambushed on Saturday.
Attackers fired several mortar rounds overnight at Spanish bases in Diwaniya and Najaf, and at a Polish base in Karbala, but no damage or casualties were reported.
Iraqi Housing Minister Bayan Baqer said that fear of being abducted or killed has already caused more than 1,500 foreign engineers and contractors to flee the country.
Somehow, I wonder whether they do well to leave....In my opinion, Allies need some help, as they failed to win not only the war, but also peace.
As we see, those here in these forums located in the US have learned absolutely nothing in the past few months. Still the same old blind asinine doggedly held positions and nothing shakes it.
I don't think Spain should have pulled out because it sends the wrong message to terrorist. God knows they will cling to a piece of lint if it gets into the eye of their enemy. However I also understand why they would want to pull out of Iraq.
As the months go by, it looks more and more like we jumped to gun to say the least about it. It also means that to those opposing US occupancy in Iraq, it validates their causes that the US has hidden agendas aim more at profits than freedom or terror fighting. The world has definitely not become a more peaceful or safer place since invading Iraq. In fact it appears as if they were energized by it. Those sitting on the fence have now become full enemies of the US and anything we stand for.
To call someone cowards who have been fighting terrorism for so many years is like some new country telling the US how to run its democracy. The problem lies not with the terrorist but with the cause. Why do you think someone wants to die for something they do not believe in?
So now we sit by daily and watch our troops dying while we find some reasons to justify our presence in Iraq other than Saddam was a bad man for many years.
Spain decided democratically their destiny. This is the democracy you all want to install in Iraq. I think it's a shining example that you all will only agree with democracy on your terms and not the foundation in which democracy stands for.
The appeasement attitude is a fool's bargain. It's like saying, "attacking crime will not solve the problem, just look at how much crime there is still in the world and look how long the law has been fighting crime, and crime is still going strong! See, what have we accomplished? So let's just withdraw the criminal justice system—leave the criminals alone and the criminals will leave us alone." Yeah, that works!
Your analogy is inaccurate. If we're going to "fight crime" then do it. How do you fight crime if you're not doing it at the source?
Secondly, when talking about invading another "sovereign country" the stakes are higher and so is the bar. It also doesn't mean that because crime is high you can persecute without just cause.
Oneofpeace is right on the money as usual. Fighting the causes. It tells it all. When one wants to fight crime in some outlaw zone, what is the best option ? Go there and shoot at everything that moves, or first cutting down the sources of the problem ?
I mean - for example, what is the sense of authorizing free gun trading, if you know that significant part of guns and ammos will be used to commit criminal actions ? Then common sense consists in banning and confiscating guns, educating people, promoting development inside defavorized areas. Sometimes repression is needed but this is the last option.
Iraq: invasion, more terrorism, repression, uprisings and terrorism, more repression. You have a perfect vicious circle. With enormous quantities of weapons of all kind in circulation over there. That's what one would call a powder keg.
About Spain, I still read - and intend to keep reading - from the same people simplistic reductions such as "cowards" and so on. I will agree that it sends a bad message to terrorists at the bad time, but fact is that the spanish population did not want to hear about this war even before it started - let alone did they not want to let their army be part of it. They were not heard by their leaders, who have been voted out in return. Democracy. Only fools can retain what seems convenient to them - the same kind of crap heard about the surrender French monkeys.
The solution, to spare lives in Iraq, is to let the UN pipe in and manage the country all the necessary time. Bush and co are already seeking for this kind of exit door as they feel that the wind is changing there. UN representative is already modifying the post June 30th agenda, that will include the UN.
US troops are cowards too, because they pulled out of Vietnam and of Somalia and ..
So Think first buddy. I would also point you out that the Ex prime minister (Mr Aznar) decided against citizens will(Vox Populus) to send troops in Iraq. At a huge majority, Spanish were and still are against this war. I wonder if Kerry won't do the same in a couple of months...
Nevertheless, I do not think that they did well to pull out, especially so quickly. Apparently, Allies are struggling to win this war, and the consequences will be as disastrous as already predicted a LONG time ago.
