"Soldiers from Spain, Ukraine, Italy, El Salvador and Poland have come under fire this week, as well as the Americans and British. One of the first casualties this week was a Salvadorean soldier in Najaf. A Ukrainian soldier was killed on Tuesday in Kut.
A Ukrainian defence official said last night… they had withdrawn from Kut as “they are not fit for hostilities”.
No country other than Spain has decided to pull its forces out of Iraq, but the heavy fighting has caused a rethink in many capitals. The chances of these countries responding positively to calls for extra troops are fast diminishing.
Some governments are discussing whether they will send replacements when their tour of duty ends. Kazkhstan, involved in the Kut debacle, said yesterday it does not intend to replace its 27 engineers when its term is up on May 30. "
"Leszek Miller, the outgoing prime minister of Poland, which has 2,500 troops, the third highest number after the US and Britain, told the Associated Press: **“When people see dramatic scenes in which soldiers are killed, there will be more pressure for a pullout.” **
South Korea has 600 military engineers and medics in Iraq, who were confined to their bases during the latest spate of fighting
Chota - The recent moves of the iraq freedom fighters are paying off to quote the Polish minister **“When people see dramatic scenes in which soldiers are killed, there will be more pressure for a pullout.” ** Let’s hope more soliders are killed dramatically and they pull out!!
Thailand has no intention of pulling its troops out of Iraq, but will be forced to reconsider if increased violence there hampers the contingent’s humanitarian work, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Friday. Worsening violence and a string of kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq this week have worried Washington’s Asian allies, including Thailand, which currently has 443 troops deployed in the southern city of Karbala. Thailand’s troops are on a one-year humanitarian mission, which ends in September, providing medical care and rebuilding roads and buildings. “I’ve ordered Thai troops in Iraq to carry on their mission in the assigned area and not to leave the camp,” Thaksin told reporters. "But if we can’t carry out the humanitarian duties, we will reconsider it. " The Thai soldiers, part of a Polish-led multinational force of 9,500 troops that controls south-central Iraq from Karbala, have not engaged in any combat. Thai mobile medical teams had been providing care in the surrounding community, but now patients have to come to the base to be treated.
For now, said Thaksin, the troops’ instructions were to “just stay in the area and stay extremely cautious.” Thailand has not yet consulted with the U.S. or the U.N. on the matter, he said, “but we have to take care of ourselves until things get better.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow earlier expressed hope that Japanese and others kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents in recent days will be set free soon, adding there is little concern about Thais being kidnapped. Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Palangun Klaharn also said the kidnappings have “not yet” changed the government’s policy. “Our position is that we’re following the situation. We have increased precautionary measures. We get along well with the (Karbala) villagers, who give us information,” he said. “Now we have to see if anything more violent will occur in the future,” Palangun said, without elaborating. Thailand has lost two soldiers in Iraq who were killed when a car rammed into the wall of their camp and exploded in December.
Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries made the right decision to withdraw their troops. With the American’s now only controlling 25% of Falluja, and desperately offering a ceasefire to get some breathing space, they have just lost a major highway in that region to the resistance. :k:
ARMED insurgents today seized control of the highway linking the predominantly Sunni Muslim town of Abu Gharib with the besieged city of Fallujah further west of Baghdad, an AFP correspondent said. Hundreds of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov assault rifles were running along the highway, the correspondent said. An AFP photographer reported earlier that fierce clashes pitted US army troops against insurgents in Abu Gharib.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mufakkar: *
Hey what happened to your love for Shias?
[/QUOTE]
Love for shias equates into love for terrorists and thugs?
April 14 — By Stuart Grudgings
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines, one of the staunchest allies of the United States, may withdraw its peacekeepers and aid workers from Iraq as security conditions worsen, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Wednesday.
Re: The coalition of the 'shilling' is now unwilling
[QUOTE] Originally posted by Chota: *
A Ukrainian defence official said last night... they had withdrawn from Kut as *"they are not fit for hostilities".**
PORTUGAL might withdraw its national guard contingent from Iraq if the security situation in the country continued to deteriorate, Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes said today. “If the conflict were to deteriorate and the GNR (national guard) did not have what it required to carry out its mission, the only solution would be to withdraw,” he told Antena 1 public radio. Portugal dispatched 128 national guards to southern Iraq in November to back the US-led coalition in the war-torn country. They operate under British command.