U.S. wants more Australian troops in Iraq: Report

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1061763008884&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037

CANBERRA — Australia is resisting U.S. requests for a fresh contribution of troops to Iraq, as the security situation deteriorates, a newspaper reported today.

The Australian reported unnamed Australian sources said U.S. officials were raising the issue of a peacekeeping contribution through informal channels but no formal appeal had been made.

Australian government officials were not immediately available for comment. snip

Prime Minister John Howard has been a stalwart supporter of Washington's war against terror and contributed about 1,500 troops to the Afghanistan conflict and 2,000 to Iraq. Australia brought home all of its combat personnel without a single casualty.

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[0007]

1. Who'd be crazy enough to send troop

to the custer fuck of all custer fucks?

[Twillig]

6. I was gonna be a correcting pendant and say

that the term is Cluster-fuck.

But you've have something there with Custer. Spot on.

[Maple]

2. Really??

And when did THAT little withdrawal happen??

[NNN0LHI]

3. It was done pretty quietly. Wasn't it? Hardly even noticed n/t

[wabeewoman]

4. As my dear ole mamma used to say....

you can want in one hand and shi* in the other and see which one gets full the fastest.

[hadrons]

5. Bush to Howard: "Come on, John ... the dying fine!!!"

[Gloria]

7. Australia now embroiled in "lies" about going into Iraq--not the best

time to ask for more troops!!

[tlcandie]

8. Seul contre tous...

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1028186,00.html

<snip>
As Le Monde's headline put it: 'Now, We Are All Americans'; never before had America so many friends across the planet - or so we thought. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice used that same word, 'opportunity'. But opportunity for what? The White House and Le Monde did not, it turned out, share the same notion of what 'We Are All Americans' meant. The other day the same paper carried another headline about America: 'Seul contre tous' - alone against everyone. Well, almost everyone.
<snip>

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. After pissing off the world, I can't believe that the Bush Junta expects

countries to stand in line to be fodder for the Iraqi Underground. Coalition of the Willing my hind foot.

<>

[alcuno]

10. For peacekeeping, you need peace.

So Australia is out; the British forces seem to be dwindling as well.

[dudeness]

11. seeing as a vast majority of australians

were totally opposed to this invasion..Howard knew that any aussie casualties would cause huge political turmoil..our ability to involve our troops in conflicts that have no immediate impact upon our country is unsurpassed..in my opinion we have an obligation to the Iraqi people (whom we bombed) to make this country safe and deliver on the promises of freedom and democracy..btw did we find any WMD's ??

[yellowcanine]

12. I guess the 230 Hondurans and the other

Central Americans won't cut it, eh, Rummy? Too bad you can't get those Aussies at $50 a month and a $6,000 life insurance policy. Damn, you just can't get good help anymore to run an occupation.

[modrepub]

18. Paper Tigers

Or the couple of hundred Ukranian troops I heard about on NPR last week. Seems they were having trouble getting their Soviet era trucks to their assigned positions (breaking down due to heat and dust). They also didn't have anyone who could speak english so a journalist who spoke Russian was translating for the American escort troops. No offence to these other countries, but this just seems to be a waste of $, time and effort to have these "coalition" troops in Iraq.

[Mal]

13. I'm amazed.

Would have thought that that arse-licker Howard would be on his knees, tongue out by now.
Maybe that's why he's spending so much time out of the country, avoiding Bush's phone-calls.

[kskiska]

14. Looks like it's payback time for Howard's ranch visit

Does * have the convenience of picking and choosing which country's troops he prefers?

[dudeness]

15. looks like * options are diminishing

many countries are not interested after the UN bombings..if howard sends troops it will etched on his political tombstone..

[slack]

16. The Price for East-Timor

You think East-Timor was a civil war and Indonesia terrorists kill 200.000 people, until the UN (with Sergio Viera de Mello as Leader) stop this slauther?
Perhaps you should read some articles:

THE PETROCHEMICAL AGE COLONIZING EAST TIMOR
Indonesia & Australia's Oil Drilling Plans: By Allan Nairn. (1991)
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p1.htm

Documents reveal that Australia urged Indonesia to invade East Timor in 1975
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p5.htm

What is the "international community" really doing in East Timor?
John Pilger, Guardian, Tuesday October 5, 1999
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p2.htm

East Timor and Australia's oily politics
By Mike Head, 8 March, 2000
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p3.htm

Timor Gap dispute highlights motives behind Australian intervention
By Mike Head 25 October 2000
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p7.htm

Military officer reveals Australian responsibility for Timor massacre
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/timo-m15.shtml

East Timor’s "independence": illusion and reality
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/may2002/timo-m18.shtml

America's shameful role in East Timor genocide
http://pariahnt.tripod.com/pages/timor-genocide_p16.htm

Nightmare in Indonesia: The Bloody Roots of the Bush/Cheyney Empire
First published in July 2001 - - By Cheryl Seal
http://www.country-liberal-party.com/pages/Pan-Americanism.htm

I think the support of the Iraqwar by Australia, was the price for US-Support in East-Timor.

[dudeness]

17. I certainly do not think east timor was a civil war

it was a downright invasion by the US..UK and Australian backed regime in Jakarta led by the butcher suharto..it is a black day in australias history when we abandoned the people of east timor..