NEWS: New Zealand Pulls Out of Iraq

Originally posted by Munro_DreadGod
Another victory for the terror brigade. When you go into a warzone your soldiers may get hurt even killed be it political or pacifist reasons if your going to send troops at least have the backbone to see it out. The message you send to the terrorist is terror tactics work!

It will only be a victory for the terror brigade if the New Zealand government dosnt have the sense to send another rotation of troops to Iraq. It dosnt occur to the Critics that if more countries send troops to help rebuilt Iraq then the countrie would be rebulit quckier. It is a case of less is more.

Originally posted by Jubilee

Thanks to all the New Zealand troops who have been helping ou in Iraq, it's a shame they can't continue their duties uninterrupted.

Why can't the US send more troops. They obviously can't handle the fighting and won't be able to make inroads unless they have more troops over there.

They can handle the fighting. The old practice of flattening cities is not acceptable anymore. ie. the Allied bombing of Cologne. They need to secure the areas they are in. In order to do that, the US needs more troops for security roles. That takes alot more long term effort and man-power than bombing a city. Trust me, if they wanted to, the Marines would flatten Falluja in less than a week.

Rumsfeld owes former General Shinseki a public apology. Gen.Shinseki said we would need more troops, money and allies to get the job done, and what did he get? He got an early retirement.

Good for the Kiwis. I respect them for pulling out. It is just a shame that the people making things harsh for them over there could not see that they were there to do good.

It's the everyday Iraqi people that are the losers in this situation.

[edit on 16-9-2004 by Facefirst]

Originally posted by Facefirst

Originally posted by Jubilee

They can handle the fighting. The old practice of flattening cities is not acceptable anymore. ie. the Allied bombing of Cologne. They need to secure the areas they are in. In order to do that, the US needs more troops for security roles. That takes alot more long term effort and man-power than bombing a city. Trust me, if they wanted to, the Marines would flatten Falluja in less than a week.

You said the problem in a nutshell. If the yanks want defeat the insurgents they might have to flatten Falluja and other cites. You cant let the enemy gain an advantage. No target should be off limteds it shouldnt matter if the insurgents are hole up in a holy site. If the yanks forgot about being PC they could wipe out the insurgent in less then a month and it would take less bombs then the allies droped on Cologne.

More Troops would be needed to seal the borders to prevent more insurgents entering the countrie. There would have to be a closed border for awhile but the long term benfits would be a free Iraq with no foreign troops present.

[edit on 16-9-2004 by Facefirst]

Some of those New Zealand Army Engineers were my friends.
they were not there to fight but that is a mute point.
they are engineers, not infantry.
the infantry were too busy in Bamian province, Afghanistan.
I was there.
you cant expect non teeth-arm corps to engage in such difficult, confined battle grounds as what has been encountered in iraq.
they didnt send air force pilots to capture Baghdad did they?
final point though.....
its so good being a Kiwi serving overseas.
everyone loves us.
in afghan the same people that would try to block the yanks from entering their villages would welcome us with open arms.
and while im told it was not to the same extent in Basra for our engineers,
there was elements of the same opinions among the locals there.
Thank god for NZ aye??!!

Good for the Kiwis, get out of that mess caused by Bush and his cronies, wish Blair had the guts to bring our troops home , but hes to far up Georges ass to do that.People realize this is a phony war made up by Bush and they are tired of it.

Kudos to the NZ politicians for having the backbone to tell Washington to stick their false war where the sun don't shine. NZ pollies always did have the guts and the balls that put the Australian pollies to shame. You want to see someone with no backbone? Just take a look at this guy.

Whats needed now is for us Australians to pull our finger out and follow our brothers from NZ out of that hell hole... Its a shame but the days of ANZAC seem to be in the past now...

Anyone noticed how Australia and New Zealand have been drifting apart of late... Its because Australia is now all cozy with America, thinking they are one of the "big-boys"...

Anyone here that the US is now sending more troops over there... ?

Don't need more troops over in Iraq, hence you not hearing of the US sending anymore other than the regular rotations that occur.

New Zealand, as with Spain and others who were there and left, should be thanked and shown appreciation for the time, service, and aid that was given while in Iraq. Thank you.





seekerof

Originally posted by ghostsoldier

I wish this wasn't ATSNN. I've got a thousand captions for this one.

to those of you that thanked us kiwis for our contribution i just want to say your welcome we are glad to help.
the New Zealand public dont exactly feel the same as those of us lucky enough to serve in this mans army.
but hey,
what you gonna do.
im sure most of us soldiers would think twice before going again if we had a political opinion other than the official position but thats the way it is and thats the job we do aint it?
i would also like to point out the Bamian Provincial Reconstruction team made up of kiwi infantry and a bunch of air force and navy pukes as liason officers.
I would hate for them to be forgotten.
i have to say though.
one post i read was talking about how the spirit of the ANZAC has died.
I have to say that if thats true its only amoung the civilians.
the traditions of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps is still alive and kicking between the Kiwi and Aussie military forces.
more so now than at any point leading up to now i would think.
partly due to the seriously increased risk to our regional security posed by some who shall remain nameless.
if your a kiwi or aussie soldier then no doubt you know exactly what im talking about however.
imho the superb effort by us and our aussie mates over the ditch in East Timor has to be the only truly successful attempt at bringing freedom of choice, peace and stability to a people in desperate need of help during our times.
Iraq hasnt worked.
they dont want you there, they didnt want our boys there.
Afghnistan didnt work, we just dont hear much on the news about it anymore, and that really winds me up to!!!
when i think of my mates over there now, all of the wonderful locals i met while on my deployment and the pain that those people are going through.
because i believe that the Afghani's actually want peace and stability and it is outside influence aside from ours that is causing the problems.
not so in Iraq, it seems to me that they truly want all of us to get the F%$k out of their country.
and we should.
if somebody doesnt want my help i know of plenty of people who would.
In saying that though,
i honestly cant find it in myself actually believe that helping the Iraqi people find some stability and peace and a chance to prosper in the international community is the true political motivation behind the initial invasion and the occupation still ongoing today.
that excuse just doesnt cut the mustard with me im afraid!
well thats enough of my ranting

Can I just note that the NZ ex-prime Minister who died yesterday, David Lange, said on TV that the CIA had talked with Australia about having him assassinated because of his Anti Nuclear ships policy....

Believe it or not..... your friends are only as pally as it suits them...

Also it is believed that the CIA DID asassinate The Australain PM Wlat Whitlam, over his anti Vietnam policy.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Kudos to the NZ politicians for having the backbone to tell Washington to stick their false war where the sun don't shine.

NZ pollies always did have the guts and the balls that put the Australian pollies to shame. You want to see someone with no backbone?

[edit on 15-8-2005 by Netchicken]

Originally posted by Netchicken
Also it is believed that the CIA DID asassinate The Australain PM Wlat Whitlam, over his anti Vietnam policy.

Netchicken, do you mean PM Harold Holt?

Some of the wilder theories had it that Holt was assassinated by the CIA because he wanted to get Australia out of Vietnam.

Source

Mind you, Gough Whitlam, who is still alive wasn't exactly one of the CIA's best friends.

His government had conducted such outrages (to American minds) as pulling troops out of Vietnam; ending conscription; supporting the Indian Ocean Zone of Peace proposals; attacking the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam; and interfering with Australian intelligence efforts to aid Indonesia's invasion of East Timor and the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile.

Prime Minister Whitlam charged in a public statement that the CIA was interfering with the domestic politics of his country.

Source

Sanc'.

Actually Netchicken i was talking about the soldiers.
politicians dont really count in my view.
i would think you would understand that considering that in my opinion all politicians everywhere are the same.
execpt our Auntie Helen of course.
i do see your point though, but i cant speak for the politicians on either side of the ditch.
only the armed forces because thats what i know. i dont know politics.