Our "Multilateral" Allies in Iraq
Our Allies in the battle for Iraq continue to stand with us. [Full Story]
Prime Minister John Howard indicated that Australia will extend the deployment of its troops to Iraq to continue guarding Japanese military engineers operating in the south of the country.Commentary: This story provides facts that contradict the assertion that the battle for Iraq was unilateral. If the "unilateral" war isn't unilateral then can we trust the other descriptors attached to the battle of Iraq by anyone claiming we went in alone?
Japan announced on Thursday that it would keep its 600 troops in Iraq until late next year, around a year longer than planned.
Australia deployed about 450 soldiers in May to guard the Japanese contingent and Howard said late Thursday that they would pursue their mission in line with Tokyo's decision.
posted by Fred Kleindenst at 9:37 AM | Permalink
2 Comments:
I know we can't expect objectivity from a blog, but for your own sake, please put "news" like this in the proper perspective:
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9340/update.html
Even if one leaves aside the question of the fairly small number of soldiers most of these states contributed (to say nothing about their less than idealistic motivations), the fact is that one after another countries leave the CoW. (Even the UK's withdrawal is not completely out of the question anymore!)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/050201-iraq-coalition.htm
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040730-042642-8353r.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm
Yes, the links you provided are interesting context. The linked material points out that some of the coalition has withdrawn persons from Iraq (Spain, Phillipines) and that others have reiterated their staunch intentions to stay (Japan, Australia).
Given that there remains a significant international coalition my point still stands:
If the "unilateral" war isn't unilateral then can we trust the other descriptors attached to the battle of Iraq by anyone claiming we went in alone?
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