Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Denmark Pulls Out Dozens of Iraqi Aides

Friday July 20, 2007 2:31 AM

By KARL RITTER

Associated Press Writer

KARUP, Denmark (AP) - Before the withdrawal of its 480
combat troops from Iraq next month, Denmark has pulled
out scores of Iraqi aides and their families.

The last of three Danish military flights carrying a total
of 200 Iraqis left Friday, the government said. The flights
were kept secret because of fears that militants would
try to attack the planes.

The aides, many of them translators, worked with the
Danes in Basra, a risky job that has turned them into
traitors in the eyes of militants fighting the U.S.-led
coalition. The government decided in June to offer the
aides a chance to seek asylum.

-snip-

“It's the right thing to do,” said Capt. Joergen Christian
Nyholm, who returned to Denmark in February after
commanding a mechanized infantry company in Basra for
six months. “My personal opinion is that they are at a
pretty high risk.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6792579,00.html

[Critters2]

1. "...the right thing to do..." Maybe we should try that once.

The Danes are good people!

[silverweb]

2. How refreshing.

A government that doesn't believe in disposable people and actually considers "the right thing to do" before political expediency.

[msongs]

3. in WW2 the most danes refused to turn jews over the nazis...

the nation as a whole went on strike (or threatened to, not sure which) if the nazis tried to strip away all the jews.
no doubt some danes loved the nazis but as a culture and people, danes did something wonderful, unlike, say the poles, the
french and the american government.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[aquart]

6. The story I was told

was that King Christian put the Star of David on his own arm, as his subjects. The Nazis withdrew the order.

Our leader wouldn't know how to do that. He wouldn't consider it for a second.

[Bjornsdotter]

8. Never happened

...he didn't wear the yellow armband and neither did the Jews in Denmark.

He did however refuse to turn the Jews over to the Nazis and continued to ride daily through the streets of Copenhagen to show the people not to fear and the people would follow him on their bikes.

If you visit Copenhagen there is a huge boulder that sits in the harbor that bears the first shots fired by the Nazis as they came in.

Cheers

[aquart]

11. Ah, that was the story my mommy told.

But facts are pretty good, too. Thanks!

[Bjornsdotter]

14. It's a great story

...and I believed it until I was about 18 and visited the WWII museum in Copenhagen.

Christian X did say that if the Jews were made to wear identifying badges that he and all of Denmark would wear them. I think that's where the story originates.

Cheers

[aquart]

16. Bless him forever.

And I'm crying as I say it.

[Bjornsdotter]

9. Yes

IIRC the Danes united to wear red and white ribbons with 9 ore attached to the ribbons to symbolize solidarity.

I am very proud to say that my Great-grandfather was one of the Swedish fisherman who helped smuggle Jewish women and children into Sweden to help them escape the Nazis.

My family is from Malmo and often talked about the situation in Copenhagen during the war, especially the bombings.

Cheers

[aquart]

12. Do they have his name in Israel?

That's a beautiful legacy he left his descendants.

[Bjornsdotter]

13. I'm not sure

...how would I find out?

Cheers

[aquart]

15. Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem

Wikipedia has the numbers by nation but not the names.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righteous_Among_the_Nations>

[Bjornsdotter]

17. Thank-you!

I'm going to check into this, my cousin is an archaeologist in Sweden and has lot of resources.

Cheers

[aquart]

18. Cool. What has he dug up?

[Bjornsdotter]

19. Lots of stuff

...but he's probably best known for this and his new book. Jerry is my cousin, he's been working on his book, getting married and is now mostly working at the Lund Historical Museum. Last year I went for his wedding and he was able to show us some of the objects he discovered. It's hard to get in on a dig, so he goes when he is able.

Cheers

http://www.thelocal.se/7544/

Archaeologists discover Iron Age Mickey Mouse

Published: 8th June 2007 17:00 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/7544/

Archaeologists discover Iron Age Mickey Mouse Swedish archaeologists have uncovered signs of a Viking precursor to Mickey Mouse. Among the objects found during excavations at Uppåkra in southern Sweden is an iron age figure bearing a strong resemblance to the classic cartoon character.

But archaeologist Jerry Rosengren from Lund University is confident that the bronze brooch - used as a clasp to fasten women's clothing - was in fact intended to represent a Lion King rather than a mere mouse. < continued >

[JPZenger]

22. The vast majority in Jews in Denmark Were Saved

The vast majority of Jews in most countries in continental Europe died during WWII. The main exceptions were half the Jews in Hungary, who were saved by Raoul Wallenberg and other foreign diplomats, and the Jews of Denmark.

When the word got out that the Jews in Denmark were about to be rounded up by the Nazis, the Danes loaded up hundreds of boats and took most of them to Sweden overnight. Most of the Jews who ended up being killed were residents of nursing homes who could not be easily evacuated.

[danceswithganja]

23. huh

How can you compare saving several hundreds of jews by ferrying them a few km in fishing boats and risking prison in Denmark with giving a jew a loaf of bread in Poland and having you and your whole family shot for it?

[truthisfreedom]

4. We won't be doing that. We'll leave them to die. Cheney's too paranoid to let them

onto "homeland" soil.

[aquart]

5. Once again, the Danes are impressively decent.

[Drum]

7. What positive news...what a good example!

I am glad to hear of this, real proof of evolution. Doing the right thing, in other words, something W&Co just have a serious blindspot for.

Bravo Danes! I've enjoyed two work-trips to Denmark, endlessly impressed by the civility there.

:thumbsup:

[provis99]

10. once again, America craps on the world and the Scandinavians clean up

reminds me of a post several weeks ago on DU noting that Sweden had let in several thousand Iraqis just last year. And the US has let in 800 total since the beginning of the invasion? On a side note, since many postings note the Scandinavian tendency to protect Jews during World War II, does anyone have any figures on how many Jewish refugees the US let in during the Nazi period? I mean, other than Einstein?

[Jemmons]

20. Nice to se Denmark receive some positive attention

I think that american democrats could look to Scandinavia for inspiration for what to do in the future. Denmark is a close ally and friend of the US and the system here could give people an idea of what they are missing out on because of your lack of basic rights.

Denmark is no heaven, but so much is better for the average joe here that it makes you wonder what has gone wrong in the US.

Cheers :toast:




A bit of background info: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10682391/site/newsweek/

[Viva_La_Revolution]

21. makes me proud to be 1/8th Danish.

:)

[rodeodance]

24. Iraqis who've helped Danish troops secretly evacuated to Denmark

Source: ap



Iraqis who've helped Danish troops secretly evacuated to Denmark

Associated Press - July 20, 2007 6:43 AM ET

The government of Denmark has quietly evacuated dozens of Iraqi civilians who've been helping Danish troops in southern Iraq.

Altogether about 200 aids and family members have been flown to Copenhagen this week. The last of 3 flights arrived today.

The Danish government kept the operation secret until the plane had left Basra for fear of an attack by militants.

Denmark announced last winter that it planned to pull its 480-member battlegroup out of Iraq starting next month. The issue of what to do about civilian helpers was hotly debated until the government decided to offer entry visas, financial aid and jobs.

The last group of 80 flew out of Basra this morning on a Danish transport and then switched to an unmarked civilian

Read more: http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=6816371

[Posteritatis]

25. Okay, I gotta give Denmark props for this one

Nice to see someone taking responsibility for some of the civilians placed in harm's way through this whole mess.

[Supersedeas]

26. did they forget Poland too?

[1monster]

27. Denmark was the only European country occupied by Germany during WWII that

stood in solidarity with its Jewish citizens?

The Danes evacuated over 8,000 Jews from Denmark to neutral Sweeden in in order to save them from the German order to arrest all Jews and deport them to Germany.

As a result, nearly all of the Jewish population of Denmark survived the war.

Hats off to Denmark. :thumbsup: :applause: :applause:

[KDLarsen]

28. Small update on the subject

Of the 200 who has been evacuated, 30 have requested a 'regional solution', where they will be flown back to the Middle East region and offered a job, home and so on through the Danish foreign ministry. The evacuees are currently staying at an old unused army base & they will soon be transferred to some reopened asylum camps, while their cases are reviewed. IIRC it has been said that all the cases should be completed in 3 months max, and as mentioned in the article they're most likely to allowed asylum in Denmark.

[libodem]

29. Thank God/Ali

someone has taken some responsibility to help these poor people. Finally some integrity.

[cambie]

30. He was able to say that the "right thing" was done.

What will be done for all the thousands when it's over in Iraq? Remember Saigon?