Spain Pulls Troops from Iraq, 10 U.S. Troops Killed

[Ironside]

Spain Pulls Troops from Iraq, 10 U.S. Troops Killed





BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Spain said Sunday it would withdraw its 1,400 troops in Iraq as soon as possible, dealing a major blow to the U.S.-led coalition as 10 U.S. soldiers were killed in fierce fighting against guerrillas.



President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the United States expected other countries with troops in Iraq to reassess their position after Spain's decision.



"We know that there are others who are going to have to assess how they see the risk," Rice told ABC television. "We have 34 countries with forces on the ground. I think there are going to be some changes."



Spain, which has the sixth largest number of troops in the coalition, announced its decision amid Iraq's bloodiest period since Saddam Hussein's fall and as the U.S. combat death toll topped 500 since the war to oust him began in March last year.



Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he issued the pullout order because he did not expect a U.N. resolution to be adopted "that conforms with the conditions we have set for our presence in Iraq."



ZAPATERO PLEDGE



Zapatero's Socialists had pledged before winning a March general election to withdraw Spain's troops unless the United Nations took control of security arrangements in Iraq on June 30 when Washington plans to hand over power to Iraqis.



"This morning...I gave (the defense minister) the order to do what was necessary for the Spanish troops stationed in Iraq to come home in the shortest possible time and in the greatest possible safety," Zapatero said on Spanish television.



Spaniards, who largely opposed the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam, swept Jose Maria Aznar's pro-U.S. Popular Party from power in a poll held in the shadow of suspected al Qaeda-linked train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people.



A purported al Qaeda video tape said the March 11 bombings were retaliation for Spain's military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.



White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Washington wanted the Spanish withdrawal to be made in a "coordinated, responsible and orderly manner" but offered no comment on Madrid's decision.



The Spanish troops, part of a Polish-led multinational force responsible for a swathe of central and southern Iraq, have come under sporadic attack and several have been wounded.



At least 10 Spanish military personnel have been killed in Iraq since last August.



Five of the 10 latest U.S. combat deaths were Marines who were killed in bloody clashes against scores of heavily armed guerrillas near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said.



HEAVY DEATH TOLL



Ninety-nine U.S. soldiers have been killed this month -- more than the number of U.S. combat deaths in the three-week war that toppled Saddam.



The heaviest fighting at the weekend was in Qusayba on the Syrian border where the U.S. military said 25 to 30 guerrillas had also been killed.



"A day-long series of firefights began...when a Marine patrol reported they were under fire by enemy forces wielding machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades," the 1st Marine Division said in a statement.



"Marines continued to bring coordinated fire against the enemy force of approximately 120 to 150 fighters throughout the day and into the night."



The Marines said women and children had surrounded guerrilla mortar positions during the fighting, apparently as human shields. "It is unknown whether or not they were in those positions on their own free will," the statement said.



General Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN guerrillas in the Sunni bastion of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, had also used human shields.



U.S.-led forces, who have battled for months to stamp out Sunni guerrilla attacks, have faced a new front this month because of a Shi'ite uprising in southern Iraq led by rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.



The number of civilians killed this month -- reported by doctors to be in the hundreds -- has angered many Iraqis and triggered kidnappings of foreign civilians from more than a dozen countries.



Talks are going on to bolster a shaky truce in Falluja and to prevent violence in Najaf, a holy city to Iraq's Shi'ite majority, where Sadr is holed up and protected by his militia.



Iraqis have warned that if U.S. troops enter Najaf it would further inflame violence.



Sadr's spokesman Qays al-Khazali told a news conference the cleric's Mehdi Army militia would halt military operations in and around Najaf during commemorations Monday and Tuesday for the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad's death.



About 2,500 U.S. troops have been poised on the outskirts of Najaf for several days, with orders to kill or capture Sadr.



U.S. officials demand that the cleric disarm his Mehdi Army and turn himself in to stand trial in an Iraqi court for the murder last year of a moderate Shi'ite cleric in Najaf.



Falluja, a bastion of Sunni guerrillas, enjoyed a second day of calm, but five civilians were killed overnight as they fled U.S. shelling in the nearby town of Karma, witnesses said.



U.S. Marines launched a crackdown in Falluja after the killing and public mutilation of four American private security guards ambushed on March 31.



Guerrillas have seized about 50 foreigners this month. Most have been freed, but the captors of four Italians killed one and threatened to kill the rest unless Italian troops leave Iraq.



A U.S. soldier has also been abducted and paraded in footage shown on Arab satellite networks.



The climate of insecurity has prompted the U.S. military to indefinitely close highways leading north, west and south of Baghdad in a new blow to reconstruction and economic life.

The Source

I'm not sure how much mre of this kinda bs I can handle. As much as I'd like to stay, maybe it wouldn't be better to just stand back (get out of Iraq) and let the Iraqis fight it out for control. We can always support one side.

I'm sick of Americans dying for this "liberation." We got Saddam Hussein. Maybe AJFA is right... It's over. We won!

I just don't don't know. It's a frustrating mess (avoiding the "q" word).

[cb88]

Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he issued the pullout order because he did not expect a U.N. resolution to be adopted "that conforms with the conditions we have set for our presence in Iraq."

In other words, Spain can't wipe their own asses unless the UN tells them how to do it.

[sergej]

Congratulations to Spain. The new government follows the will of the people, demonstrating democracy, unlike poodle Blair ignoring his own people.Welcome back to old europe.

[cb88]

Originally Posted by sergej

Congratulations to Spain. The new government follows the will of the people, demonstrating democracy, unlike poodle Blair ignoring his own people.Welcome back to old europe.

And you honestly think appeasement will make the terrorists go away?

Now they just know that if they want Spain to do their bidding, they only need to kill a few hundred people.

[JohnRN]

It's a sticky situation. One one hand, Spain is acting like what it is : a democracy. The peeople of Spain voted for their Government and the Government is following up on it's election promises. I wonder what people would say if the Iraqi's elected a hardline Government not too friends with the US after it's been given it's precious democracy?

On the other hand, the coalition is going to be more pressed. Every boot in the mud counts.

I have a question to ask:

The high rate of casualties encountered all of a sudden now, could it be because of "fatigue"? Both of men as well as machine?

[BrianK]

John your question I'll give it a shot. I am probably wrong but I don't think it is fatigue. My best guess is the stress of having to verify the target before firing. Kind of hard to be shot at from behind innocent civilians & not fire back because of restrictions. Between that & as is in most cases riding & being taken out from a place in hiding. Once an RPG does its damage the shooter is gone. The world has no problem with contractors & others being slaughtered, burned & mutilated but there is hell to pay if a marine happens to hit a civilian while returning fire.

What I find facinating is that the cleric that is inciting riot & unrest can float around Iraq at will. I am not a military stratigist but I think getting him out of the picture would do a lot towards bringing out the militants which could end in an all out confrontation. If I had my druthers & I knew that cleric was in a particular location with his militia guarding him I think I'd call for an air strike & level the entire area. When the smoke cleared I'd wait to see if anything moved & eliminate whatever moved.

Now about Spain.

Nothing happens overnight. If I had teens I'd be telling them to watch how Spain's economy improves or declines over the next two years. That would give them [my teens] a good lesson in how a democracy works in a society governed by liberal thinking. During that time if any influences from terrorist organizations popped up that would also help them.

Note the weasel words in there. Improves or declines & if any. Like watching a mystery, the outcome could surprise in either direction.

[cb88]

Great reply, Brian. You get karma for that!