NYT/AP: Italy to Pull Out of Iraq by Year's End

[DeepModem Mom]

Italy to Pull Out of Iraq by Year's End
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 19, 2006

ROME (AP) -- Italy will conclude its mission in Iraq by the end of the year, the defense minister said Thursday in the first clear timetable for Rome to withdraw its troops.

Defense Minister Antonio Martino said in an address to a parliamentary committee that the mission "will be considered concluded at the end of the year having definitively completed its mission."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Italy-Iraq.html?oref=login


(NOTE: This is a two-line article.)

[Erika]

1. and it's mission was? n/t

[Straight Shooter]

2. Its mission was Silvio politically fellating bush. n/t

[Stockholm]

3. Drip drip drip

The Italian government has announced that it will pull its troops out of Iraq by the end of the year.

Defence Minister Antonio Martino's statement marked the first official confirmation of a timetable.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had recently hinted that Italy's 2,500 contingent could return home in 2006.

The country's involvement in the war, which has been deeply unpopular among Italians, is likely to be a key issue in April's general election.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4628500.stm

[Charlie Brown]

4. Italy to pull out of Iraq in 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4628500.stm

The Italian government has announced that it will pull its troops out of Iraq by the end of the year.
Defence Minister Antonio Martino's statement marked the first official confirmation of a timetable.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had recently hinted that Italy's 2,500 contingent could return home in 2006.

The country's involvement in the war, which has been deeply unpopular among Italians, is likely to be a key issue in April's general election.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Italy to Withdraw Its Troops From Iraq by End of the Year

Italy to Withdraw Its Troops From Iraq by End of the Year

By IAN FISHER
Published: January 20, 2006
ROME, Jan. 19 - Italy will withdraw its nearly 3,000 troops from Iraq by the year's end, the defense minister said on Thursday. The announcement came during a fiercely fought election campaign in a nation where the presence of Italian troops in Iraq is not popular.
(snip)

It was the first formal announcement of Italy's plans for its troops in Iraq, though the center-right government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signaled the move months ago to Italy's voters and to the Bush administration in Washington. Mr. Berlusconi is trailing in opinion polls, and the decision would seem to ease some pressure from a particularly sensitive issue.

Italy reduced the number of its troops in Iraq by 300 last year, and Mr. Martino said another 300 would leave the area they patrol around the southern city of Nasiriya by the end of January.

He said 1,000 more troops would leave Iraq by June, before the final withdrawal of the Italian force at the end of year. By then, he said, "the mission will be considered over and accomplished."
(snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/international/europe/20italy.html

[951-Riverside]

6. Makes sense

...were off to iran around that time and they're going to need all the help they can get.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. "Coalition of the willing" gets less & less

willing to throw us a life line. We're in neck-deep with the Tigris-Euphrates cresting at flood stage, and ain't nobody even gonna throw us a life preserver. SG

[splat@14]

8. Both of `em?

[soothsayer]

9. More evidence that we're winning! Don't even need the coalition

anymore. Hell, we can practically forget Poland now without a reprimand from der leader.