Italy to press ahead with partial Iraq pull-out

[cal04]

Italy plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops from Iraq in September, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday. Berlusconi, who was a strong supporter of President Bush on Iraq, sent 3,000 troops to the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. He had previously indicated he hoped a pullout could begin in September.

"We will begin withdrawing 300 men in the month of September," Berlusconi said at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. But he added the decision would depend on security conditions on the ground and could change. In recent months, Italian officials have gone back and forth on when a withdrawal might begin. Berlusconi said September was a possibility, but Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini then talked of early 2006.

Relations between Washington and Rome have been strained in recent months _ first by the killing of an Italian agent by American soldiers in Iraq and then arrest warrants issued by an Italian court accusing 13 purported CIA operatives of kidnapping a militant Egyptian cleric from Italy and sending him to Egypt, where he was reportedly tortured.

Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli of the right-wing Northern League party said Friday the time had come for the United Nations to begin discussing "the progressive withdrawal of troops, beginning with our contingent, perhaps by September." "It's evident that after New York, Madrid and London, Italy represents the most probable next objective of the terrorists," he said. "The time has come to begin to think also about our house, and to use the same resources currently committed in Iraq to prevent and combat possible attacks on our territory."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/08/AR2005070800736_pf.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/08/AR2005070800923.html

[seeminer21]

1. Yep

England will be next. Then what will Dumbya do?

[mom cat]

2. Welcome to DU seeminer 21!

You may be right. Not having a "quid pro quo" can work both ways. For Bush to continue to press for a toothless climate change statement on the day when Britian was attacted and after Bushe's humiliation of Blair with the "quid pro quo" slap in the face to Blair makes it clear. Blair must either fight back or publically cut off his remaining genitalia to complete the humiliatiln of himself.

[sam the dawg]

5. England Italy

In the wake of yesterday's attack, england is good to keep in the game for awhile.
Italy is now a target because of their handling of the kidnapping event, desire to pull out, and, well, they need "attitude adjustment" to stay in the game. If italy has one in the future, it would lend creedence to the conspirity theorists. :patriot:

[Tesha]

6. Dubya'll keep talking about "The coalition"...

Dubya'll keep talking about "The coalition" but like
the Army's slogan, it'll be "A Coalition of One".

Tesha

[Zodiak]

3. You cannot fight terrorism with a military...period

As much as it goes against "official" doctrine of Western countries, the only way that terrorism has been defeated in this last century is by negotiating with and listening to the terrorists and removing their motive for attacking (without direct appeasement). Cases in point:

1. Britain stopped the IRA attacks by negotiating with them.

2. Spain stopped Al Queda from continuing to attack them by withdrawing troops and electing a non-fascist leader.

3. Israel negotiated with the PLO and stopped PLO terrorism by negotiating with them.

Seems to me that the only way to deal with terrorists is to listen to them and take their motives off of the table. Fighting them only bolsters their numbers and hardens their resolve. These are not soldiers, they are far more willing to die for their cause than soldiers....so they cannot be intimidated by force.

But what do I know? I'm liberal who wants to provide "therapy" for these killers, as Karl Rove would put it. Nevermind that "therapy" has actually proven to work. Instead we walk around with our chests puffed out, spouting hate and revenge unthinkingly.

[Gloria]

4. Reuters version....different slant

Edited on Fri Jul-08-05 12:39 PM by Gloria

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=14...
Friday 08.07.2005, CET 20:33

July 8, 2005 6:50 PM

Italy to press ahead with partial Iraq pull-out

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (Reuters) - Italy will start to pull its troops out of Iraq as planned in September and will not hasten the withdrawal because of fresh terror threats, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday.

Speaking at the end of a summit of world leaders, Berlusconi said Italy was a prime target for Islamist extremists thanks partly to its troop deployment in Iraq.

But he shrugged off calls from back home, including from within his own government, to speed up the troop pullout following the deadly bomb attacks in London on Thursday. "We have to fulfil our commitments and cannot leave the job half done," Berlusconi told a news conference.

"As far as our troop withdrawal goes, the situation has not changed. We will begin, as I have already announced, a partial withdrawal of around 300 troops in September," he added.

Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent there after the United States, Britain and South Korea.

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[Vladimir]

7. Well, there are two things here

Firstly, this is a statement with a lot of wiggle room - but if, on the other hand, this pullout occurs, and is followed through, it will be a testament to how much pressure the anti-war movement has put on Berlusconi as much as anything. The left is, dare I say it, kicking ass and taking names across Europe right now - Berlusconi's scalp will be a sweet one.