Iraq

ian1968Tue 16/09/08 14:25

This from Stop the War Coalition. What do you think?

Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world. With at least a million civilians killed since the illegal invasion in 2003, the daily toll of death and destruction outstrips any other country, however much the mainstream media peddles George Bush's propaganda that his "surge" is working. Journalist Patrick Cockburn, described recently the all too frequent reality for the Iraqi people: "A car bomb exploded in the Shia market town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, killing 32 people and wounding 43 others. "The smoke filled my house and the shrapnel broke some of the windows," said Hussein al-Dujaili. "I went outside the house and saw two dead bodies at the gate which had been thrown there by the explosion. Some people were in panic and others were crying." (See http://tinyurl.com/5tgp9d ) There are 4,500 British troops in the midst of this brutal occupation and the horrific instability it has brought in its wake. They almost never leave their base at Basra airport, on the outskirts of the city. Their only function -- at a cost to the British taxpayer of around one billion pounds a year -- is to provide political cover for George Bush's continuing aggression against the Iraqi people and the pillaging of the country's resources. The most recent polls show that the majority of Iraqi and British people continue to want all foreign troops to be withdrawn. But, just as George Bush insists he plans to reduce US troop levels (they are in fact as high as they have ever been in the last five years), Gordon Brown has reneged on the promises he made when he became prime minister that he would make sizeable reductions in 2008. In practice, the number of British troops withdrawn from Iraq has been pitifully low. Stop the War's demonstration at the Labour Party's national conference on Saturday 20 September will include the call for all British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq now. It's a message we will do all we can to press home for as long as there is a single soldier left in Iraq.

bradpeetTue 16/09/08 14:36

Whatever the rights and wrongs of invading Iraq in the first place, what good would withdrawing troops do now?

It is now obvious (if it was not previously) that Iraq was only previously held in check by a srtrong dictator and his army.

I wonder if the "Stop the War" movement in reality just wants the troops pulled out and to leave the Iraqi People to fight it out among themselves? Of course the only information I have is what I see in the media, but most of the fighting / bombing etc seems to be aimed at rival factions not the troops. Surely the troops should remain until some sort of local government is actually able to maintain stability?

ian1968Tue 16/09/08 14:46

But the troops are not maintaining things, and troops are being killed.
I don't know the answer but its a hell of a lot worse since the invasion. All for oil.

laresTue 16/09/08 14:50

quoting > "All for oil."

Why do you say that? Was Sadam unwilling to sell oil to the West? I don't recall that happening.

ian1968Tue 16/09/08 14:55

quoting > "Why do you say that? Was Sadam unwilling to sell oil to the West? I don't recall that happening."

So you think the West invaded Iraq for the good of its people? Ok. Then please tell me why they have not gone into, Zimbabwe or Dafur? Where in Zimbabwe you have a dictator who does what he likes.