Iraq troop withdrawal not surprising: Nelson
Posted 2 hours 11 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 33 minutes ago
Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson is not surprised the Federal Government has chosen this time to pull Australia's combat troops out of Iraq.
Dr Nelson says the conditions are such that the battle groups certainly can now be brought home, but the Coalition would have liked to have seen a continuing presence of trainers to further increase the rate at which Iraqis are trained.
Govt splits on Iraq war oil link
Posted Thu Jul 5, 2007 4:44pm AEST
Updated Fri Jul 6, 2007 5:41am AEST
Prime Minister John Howard has moved to hose down Defence Minister Brendan Nelson's earlier revelation that Australian troops are remaining in Iraq partially because of concerns over global oil supplies.
Speaking this morning, Dr Nelson said oil was among the reasons to keep troops in Iraq.... etc
Doctors want Howard in court over Iraq
Former prime minister John Howard could face the International Criminal Court for sending Australian troops to Iraq, under a plan backed by a doctor's group.
Some 550 Australian troops based in southern Iraq have formally ended their mission and begun preparations for withdrawal.
The professional not-for-profit organisation claims on its website to promote peace and disarmament and wants Mr Howard to face court action.
"Mr Howard committed Australian troops to the illegal non-UN approved war in Iraq on the basis of misleading information about WMD (weapons of mass destruction)," association spokesman Dr Robert Marr said in a statement.
"As a result of the illegal war in Iraq, over 650,000 Iraqi citizens have died unnecessarily.
I am assuming that it is only the combat troops pulling out. There will probably be a few there rebuilding - i hope the pull out does not affect the safety of the troops rebuilding.
countries like iran are arming insurgents
as usual the US military performs extremely well so there is a positive outcome in that Al-Qaeda and hordes of other muslim extremists have been pouring into iraq to take a shot at the great satan, and have been getting their asses handed to them. the fanatics ranks and leadership are greatly thinned as a result of the conflict which isn't a bad thing.
other forces in iraq such as the australians and british had a lot more success with the hearts and minds game, working with leaders, building wells and schools, waving to the kiddies and so on, and the regions they manage are relatively stable so bringing them home isn't so much an issue. the americans on the other hand have far more at stake and, with corporation pressure, will remain in for the long haul.
That myth was debunked 2 months back.
Just remember that this aspect is something we know nothing about aside from the propaganda that is handed down to us by the US government.
And also, do not overlook American imperialism which the Aussies and Brits do not understand.
The Israel / US alliance will do anything to crush resistance in the middle east such as Iran and Hezbollah.
Parallel to their extremest capitalism at home, Americans set up green zones for the privileged (this is the so called stability you are referring to) and have little regard for the lives of the people outside.
disarray, I was referring to the fact that they have found no proof of Iran arming the rebels in Iraq. They were meant to come out with a big PR campaign recently by showing the world all the Iranian weapons found in Iraq, but they failed
I don't know of any pro-terrorist websites claiming they are getting slaughtered by US troops. Can you show me?
Yes it is true the British and French had their days but that is not the present
No you are wrong, Iran and Hezbollah are not actively doing anything to crush Israel.
No terrorism comes close to what Israel has done to the Palestinians.
And as for the comment about US not caring about the unprivileged that live outside the green zone, a good examples are hurricane Katrina, and of course, the current handling of the credit crisis.
botching a single PR campaign doesn't mean iran isn't sending military and financial aid to the insurgency.
google "al-quada losses"
the current iranian leadership has great interest in keeping iraq destabilised and it hates america with a passion. let's start from there.
hezbollah consistently launches attacks against israeli territory and iran keeps calling for the (preferably nuclear) annihilation of the israeli state.
Talks stalled on Iraq-US security deal
Posted 4 hours 21 minutes ago
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says talks his government is having with the United States on a long-term security pact have reached a dead end.
Officials are trying to reach a deal which would give US forces a legal basis to remain in Iraq.
The UN mandate which permits American forces to be in Iraq expires at the end of the year, so the Americans are trying to negotiate a new status of forces agreement with the Iraqis.
The problem is that the Iraqi Government regards many of the American demands as infringements of Iraqi sovereignty.
The Americans want to maintain military bases and, it has been reported, to keep control of Iraqi air space.
They also want immunity from prosecution for their own forces and for American contractors, a proposal which Mr Maliki says Iraq rejects totally.
- BBC
Final combat troops arrive home from Iraq
Posted 4 hours 59 minutes ago
Updated 4 hours 53 minutes ago
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has today seen the completion of his pledge to bring home all of Australia's combat troops from Iraq, with the final contingent of soldiers flying into Brisbane.
Families and friends waited nervously at Brisbane airport for the first glimpse of loved ones they had not seen for more than six months.
Hugs and tears greeted the 80 members of the Seventh Brigade after their plane touched down at 3:00pm (local time).
They are the last soldiers from the Overwatch Battle Group to return home from southern Iraq and their Commander, Brigadier Steven Day, says they accomplished their mission.
"There is a deep sense of pride in what they have done. They have toiled hard for the last six or seven months and southern Iraq is a better place for what they have done," he said.
The men will take part in a welcome home parade through Brisbane next Saturday.
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