Italy 'to pull troops from Iraq' starting Sept.

[KipWellsFan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4352259.stm

 

Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said.

 

...

 

"In September we will begin a progressive reduction of the number of our soldiers in Iraq.

 

"I spoke to Tony Blair about it, and public opinion in our countries is expecting this decision," he told Rai.

 

He said the exact numbers would depend on the Iraqi government's ability to deal with security.

 

...

 

Also on Tuesday, two other members of the US-led coalition in Iraq - the Netherlands and Ukraine - began a phased withdrawal from the country.

 

No surprises here.

[Texsox]

Put them in the same category as the French.

[BridgeportHeather]

This immediately makes Silvio Berlusconi a million times smarter than George Bush. There's no reason for him to be spending all of our resources on what's going on in Iraq...Now look at our gas prices skyrocket...I'm getting pissed!

[TheBigHurt35]

This immediately makes Silvio Berlusconi a million times smarter than George Bush.  There's no reason for him to be spending all of our resources on what's going on in Iraq...Now look at our gas prices skyrocket...I'm getting pissed!

 

That's not the reason that our gas prices are rising, but you can believe that if you want to.

 

FWIW, I'd like to see the U.S. begin to pull its forces out of Iraq at the end of the year. Hopefully the Iraqi troops will be properly trained by then.

[WilliamTell]

Put them in the same category as the French.

 

 

100% Correct

[KipWellsFan]

Put them in the same category as the French.

 

The people of Italy maybe, but not their government. I really don't think this withdrawal is coming any earlier than anyone expected, or at least I haven't seen anyone saying that.

[DBAHO]

Australia doesn't rule out adding more troops;

 

PRIME Minister John Howard refuses to rule out a further commitment of Australian troops to Iraq in the wake of Italy's surprise decision to withdraw its forces.

 

Italy, with the fourth-biggest coalition force in Iraq, will start withdrawing troops from its 3000-strong contingent by September, amid growing public opposition to the war.

The nation is outraged at the killing of an Italian intelligence agent by US forces in Baghdad 10 days ago.

 

Australia last month committed an extra 450 soldiers to Iraq, to replace a 1400-strong Dutch force guarding Japanese engineers.

 

After initial reluctance to send more troops, Australia is believed to have buckled to pleas from Japanese and British leaders.

 

Labor today demanded a commitment from the Government that Australia would not increase its troop numbers yet again.

 

Mr Howard said Australia had no current plans to increase numbers in Iraq but he refused to rule out a change in the future.

 

"We do not have any current plans to increase that number but I cannot rule out some changes in the future and I do not intend to do so," he said.

 

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer claimed it was highly unlikely that Australia would be asked to increase its commitment.

 

"I wouldn't have thought so," he said.

 

The decision to replace Dutch forces occurred only after the Dutch made a specific announcement to withdraw their contingent, Mr Downer said,

 

Italy had only announced it planned to start withdrawing its troops, not the total withdrawal of its forces, he said.

 

A British military expert meanwhile said Britain would probably be asked to send more troops to Iraq, to fill the void left by the Italian withdrawal.

 

Charles Heyman, a senior defence analyst for Jane's Information Group, was quoted by the British Press Association news agency as saying the withdrawal would "leave a big hole, there's no doubt about that".

 

"My gut feeling is that it's going to be hard to find a contingent to replace them," Mr Heyman said.

 

"I think it's almost impossible for the Americans to produce another 3000 extra troops.

 

"(Britain is) probably going to be asked to help to fill the gap."

 

A large number of the Italians were under British control in the southern half of Iraq, and finding replacements would be as much a problem for Britain as for the US, Mr Heyman said.

 

Many of the Italian troops are based in the town of Nasiriyah within the Multi-National Division South East, which is headed by British forces but has personnel from other nations under its command.

 

Nasiriyah had been relatively quiet recently but the predominately Shiite Muslim area had the potential to become volatile, Mr Heyman said.

 

"There's no doubt whatsoever that the embryonic Iraqi security forces are really not capable of controlling the area – they need coalition forces to support them," he said.

 

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd raised concerns over the deployment of the 450 Australians, who will be based in Al Muthanna province in southern Iraq.

 

"A considerable number of Italian troops are deployed at Tallil Airbase, not far from the proposed new Australian deployment," Mr Rudd said.

 

He questioned how the withdrawal of the Italians would affect the Australian deployment.

 

Mr Howard said the implications of the change would be assessed.

 

"Naturally they will be assessed, but let me make it clear that we have taken a decision, properly based on the advice we have received," he said.

 

Opposition defence spokesman Robert McClelland warned that the Italian decision may be followed by similar announcements from Lithuania and South Korea, which also have big coalition forces.

 

"In failing to acknowledge the potential security consequences of troop withdrawals by Italy and other countries, the Howard Government is being either strategically inept or again failing to be up-front with the Australian people, Mr McLelland said.

 

He renewed Labor's call for the Government to provide a mission statement of what it was doing in Iraq.

 

Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said the Italian decision showed Australia was misguided and foolish in sending more soldiers to war.

 

"This is even less Australia's war than it is Italy's war," Senator Brown said.

 

The Federal Government meanwhile revised its travel warning to Iraq, advising that the inaugural session of the interim Iraqi government, as well as the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, could increase the risk of insurgent attacks.

 

Australian anti-war protesters are gearing up for another wave of demonstrations as the anniversary approaches, planning to take to the streets in all national capitals and many regional centres at the weekend.