So WHY are more countries pulling out of iraq?

[Deja Q]

S Korea has just announced 2300 will be pulled out. That's the latest.

Why are more and more being pulled out? Self-interest? Pointless war? Wanna save the pawns for a bigger target if things get too rough? (how's that for a scary thought? Unlike the US, the rest of the world remembers history...)


But Poland (who I ain't forgetting) is still staying, whatever that implies...

[Maraya1969]

1. Poland's leaders are probably being paid off.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Nothing would surprise me

Why kill your people for oil that you won't get any of?

[Spazito]

2. Not a big enough bribe being offered by the bush cabal

I guess the tax cuts for the RICH are starting to hurt the war on terror!

[gratuitous]

4. Short answer: They hate freedom

Or they're more interested in keeping their citizens alive and their governments functioning than they are in trying to prop up George's Bad Decision.

[SoCalDem]

5. Because the whole "coalition:" was a bullshit arrangement to start with

The countries that participated were PAID to sacrifice a few on their soldiers, so that *² could look like he had world-support.Like any "deal", they either wanted to renegotiate for more cash, or the "lease" ended and they are headed homw now.

Some of the "soldiers" sent were not even involved in any fighting. I remember a story about one group who had BODYGUARDS so that they would not be hurt.. That does not sound like a coalition of the willing to me.

[stillcool]

6. don't forget these guys....

BRITISH AMERICAN SECURITY INFORMATION COUNCIL
BASIC RESEARCH REPORT
A Fistful of Contractors:
The Case for a Pragmatic Assessment of
Private Military Companies in Iraq
By David Isenberg Research Report 2004.4 September 2004 British-American Security Information Council

Recruiting personnel from around the world
PMCs are employing personnel from several countries, not just the United States. Contractors from Britain, Nepal, Chile, Ukraine, Israel, South Africa and Fiji, are doing a wide variety of tasks in Iraq but the common link is helping, in one way or another, to provide security.
According to David Claridge, managing director of Janusian, Iraq has boosted British military companies' revenues from £200m ($320m) before the war to over £1bn, making security by far Britain's most lucrative post-war export to Iraq.36 More than 1,500 South Africans are believed to be in Iraq under contract to various PMCs, including members of the South African Police Services’ elite task force and former members of the South African National Defence Force. Reportedly some active members are resigning from the SANDF to go to Iraq.37 All South African security companies working outside the country are required by law to register with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), headed by
Minister of Education Kader Asmal. It has also been reported that PMCs have illegally hired, in violation of a ban on Indian citizens traveling to Iraq, 1,500 ex-combat Indian troops as private guards to protect installations in Iraq.38 In addition, the Pakistani media has reported that authorities there have stopped U.S. civil and military contractors from recruiting Pakistani ex-servicemen for carrying out non-combatant security operations in Iraq. Two illegal recruitment facilities being used by U.S. contractors to recruit the retired security personnel in Lahore and Rawalpindi were reportedly shut down.39 Security firms are also believed to be employing veterans of anti-insurgency conflicts in Colombia and Algeria and former soldiers who fought in the Russian government’s war in Chechnya.40 News reports also suggest about 100 Australians, including about 40 former SAS troops, are guarding corporate managers and infrastructure projects.41

[Spinzonner]

7. The Mission's Accomplished (again)

and we have a functioning, secure democracy in place

:sarcasm:

[lpbk2713]

8. It just isn't the cause celebre that it used to be.

The Bush regime marketed it as the "Global War on Tairism". The veneer has worn off. The world now sees it as the "BFEE Oil Grab".