Ukraine pulling out of Iraq

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2005-01-11 06:21am

Washington Post wrote:BAGHDAD, Jan. 10 -- The government of Ukraine, acting a day after an explosion killed eight of its soldiers in Iraq, announced Monday that it would withdraw its 1,650-member force by the middle of 2005.

This is from Kuchma, but I doubt Yushchenko is going to reverse the decision.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-11 07:14am

Waitaminute - didn't the pro-West government win the last election (three times a charm!

)?

SecondStorm · Post by **SecondStorm** » 2005-01-11 09:22am

Stofsk wrote:Waitaminute - didn't the pro-West government win the last election (three times a charm! )?

Having such large force for a relatively poor country like Ukraine must drain the treasury. That might be the reason. And you get to appease both France, Germany AND Russia.
Hattrick!

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-11 10:59am

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday called for an immediate withdrawal of the nation's peacekeepers from Iraq. The vote was non-binding but reflected growing national dismay over the mission.

The parliament's call came two days after eight Ukrainian soldiers died in an explosion at an ammunition dump in Iraq. The blast was reported as an accident, but a top commander later raised suspicions that it could have been a terrorist action.

On Monday, President Leonid Kuchma ordered the foreign and defense ministries to develop a plan for withdrawing Ukraine's troops from Iraq within the first half of 2005.

But the parliament, in a 308-0 vote, called on Kuchma to accelerate the process by issuing an immediate decree on withdrawal.

link

Now that they're a democracy, I guess a 308-0 vote in parliament is hard to ignore.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-01-11 11:06am

Gotta love that mother of all coalitions. With the Iraqi elections swiftly approaching I wonder if Bush is going to do a major pullout afterwards declaring mission accomplished to finally put an end to this nightmare. Unfortunately that would be criminal on our part but one can hope our boys get home sooner and safely.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2005-01-11 03:45pm

Stravo wrote:Gotta love that mother of all coalitions. With the Iraqi elections swiftly approaching I wonder if Bush is going to do a major pullout afterwards declaring mission accomplished to finally put an end to this nightmare. Unfortunately that would be criminal on our part but one can hope our boys get home sooner and safely.

That's unlikely to happen if Iraq blows up into all-out civil war after the elections, which is entirely possible.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2005-01-11 03:57pm

kheegan wrote:
Stravo wrote:Gotta love that mother of all coalitions. With the Iraqi elections swiftly approaching I wonder if Bush is going to do a major pullout afterwards declaring mission accomplished to finally put an end to this nightmare. Unfortunately that would be criminal on our part but one can hope our boys get home sooner and safely.
That's unlikely to happen if Iraq blows up into all-out civil war after the elections, which is entirely possible.

I have to disagree, at this point Bush is going to pull out the moment he feels he can get away with it. If we get a pro-western government (of any sort) I wouldn't be suprised if Bush makes real plans to cut and run. Of course if our side loses said civil war we can expect anything from ARC-Light to the Shep Solution in response.

Oh the joys of a politically run war.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-01-11 04:01pm

Tough call .... Bush has frequently talked about the need for a significant U.S. troop presence for 'years' .... but I'm not exactly shocked at the concept that there might be a disconnect between his words and his actions.

If the purpose of the war was to create an enduring American military presence in the region to deter countries like Iran, we're not going anywhere soon, because if we left in the next year Iraq would become Iran, Jr.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2005-01-11 06:36pm

Bush underestimated the opposition to American troops on the ground. If he truly believes all the crap he peddles, then he'll keep American troops there through the end of his presidency. If he doesn't he'll look for the first excuse to get the hell out of dodge.

I think the exodus of cabinet heads in the past month might have helped him realize that everything that Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the others are telling him might not be as sweet smelling as he thought.

There's always hope.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2005-01-11 07:05pm

SancheztheWhaler wrote:Bush underestimated the opposition to American troops on the ground. If he truly believes all the crap he peddles, then he'll keep American troops there through the end of his presidency. If he doesn't he'll look for the first excuse to get the hell out of dodge.

I think the exodus of cabinet heads in the past month might have helped him realize that everything that Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the others are telling him might not be as sweet smelling as he thought.

There's always hope.

He's being surrounded by even more yes-men who will tell him only what he wants to hear. Bush's disconnection from reality is widening, not narrowing.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2005-01-12 09:38am

I seem to recall someone posting an article a little while ago about how 'group think' actually made the result 'dumber' than individual think if the members of the group all pretty much agreed with each other already.

And then I started thinking about real life situations where this has happened, besides the stellar Bush team, and then it hit me; boy bands!

So how long 'till they all start wearing matching outfits and start using secret handshakes?