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Iraqis Fear Rapid US Withdrawal Would Cause 'Chaos and Anarchy,' Says Iraqi Parliamentarian (CNSNews.com) - Most Iraqis support the U.S. troop presence in Iraq and think a rapid withdrawal would lead to "chaos and anarchy," said Adnan Pachachi, a member of the National Assembly of Iraq and a former president of Iraq's Governing Council (IGC), on Friday. He also said that the best policy now lies somewhere between the strategies outlined by Sen. John McCain (r-Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "There is very widespread support for an American presence in the short and intermediate term," said Pachachi, who spoke...

Thursday, April 17, 2008 Posted By:Catherine MoyPermalinkKurds Want Americans to Stay in Iraq - believe Democracy is taking root The Kurds in Northern Iraq are making safe haven for Christians who are suffering elsewhere in Iraq. At the same time, the Kurds feel blessed that the Americans have freed them from tyranny. Middle Eastern Expert Kennth Timmerman wrote about the Kurds at NewsMax.com. The Kurdish regional government in Northern Iraq is providing a safe haven to several thousand Iraqi Christians who have fled persecution in other parts of the country, government officials and local pastors told Newsmax. Unlike refugee camps...

How badly would an American pullout affect Iraq?  According to the nation’s foreign minister, all of the security gains would evaporate and bring the country back to the brink of civil war.  Hoshyar Zebari spoke to the Associated Press to make sure Americans know exactly what is at stake: Iraq’s foreign minister said Tuesday that he believes his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood,” and warned that an abrupt U.S. troop withdrawal would be disastrous.Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that mistakes had been made by all sides but Iraq has...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2008 – Coalition servicemembers are making a difference in Iraq, and despite political rhetoric there, the country’s leaders realize they need coalition forces to remain, the commander of coalition ground forces said yesterday. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said that when he visits battalions and companies throughout Iraq, he is struck by the way Iraqis deal with coalition forces. “It’s a very interesting dynamic,” the general said during a conference call with military analysts from his headquarters in Baghdad. “I go out about five times a week, … and it’s clear...

Uh oh ... spaghetti oh! Just days after al Qaeda's last stronghold in Iraq fell to the coalition ... Iraq has offered a deal to the US to stay in Iraq for the long haul. Fox News: Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep ethnic violence from spiraling out of control, but they shouldn't stay too long, according to a panel of Iraqi youth convened by CNN. "Leave, but not now," said Mohamed Ibrahim, a 22-year-old medical student who lives in Baghdad. "If American soldiers leave Iraq now it will be more, more dangerous for us," said Karrar Sabih, 21, a fellow medical student. One of his three brothers was killed by insurgents south of Baghdad in 2004. These are opinions one hears often in Iraq. Many Iraqis are uncomfortable with foreign...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep ethnic violence from spiraling out of control, but they shouldn't stay too long, according to a panel of Iraqi youth convened by CNN. "Leave, but not now," said Mohamed Ibrahim, a 22-year-old medical student who lives in Baghdad. "If American soldiers leave Iraq now it will be more, more dangerous for us," said Karrar Sabih, 21, a fellow medical student. One of his three brothers was killed by insurgents south of Baghdad in 2004. These are opinions one hears often in Iraq. Many Iraqis are uncomfortable with foreign...

Lt. Col. James Crider is a soft-spoken, direct man who has just become the "property owner" of muhalla 840 – "muhalla" meaning a section of land and the number 840 having been assigned to this particular square plot of Baghdad on a high-resolution satellite-image map. I asked how numbers got assigned and imagined some military official coming up with an intelligent formula: 8 for the neighborhood and maybe 26 to represent the level of threat. Next to the square marked 840 was another marked 838. Was one area of operation worse than the other area of operation? The satellite image...

CNN asked one Iraqi family earlier today what they thought about withdrawal. Video at link

TOKYO (Reuters) - Iraq wants multinational forces to stay until it has built up a military that is capable of maintaining security in the country, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said on Tuesday. In a news conference during a visit to Japan, Jaafari also praised the conduct of the court handling the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying it was democratic and just. "We don't want this withdrawal to happen before we fully have established our armed forces and they are capable of maintaining security and peace in Iraq," Jaafari said through an interpreter, referring to multinational forces...

As an Afghan I support the US and coalition forces presence in Afghanistan. In the current situation, the US presence is really important for peace and stability. Like me, most Afghan people support the US presence, even though Afghan people have always been against foreign forces and occupiers. But they know that the US and coalition forces are here to help Afghanistan and the Afghan people and they are not here to occupy our country.? After the 1992 civil war between various factions of the Mujahideen, and during the Taliban regime, thousands of people lost their lives. The situation was...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S.-led multinational force must stay in Iraq until Iraqi forces are fully prepared to defend the country by themselves, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Thursday. Setting of a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces would be a sign of weakness, he said. "The country would be open to increased terrorist activity," he said at the Council on Foreign Relations. Ahead of his White House meeting Friday with President Bush, al-Jaafari said Iraq's insurgency consisted of a "very, very limited minority" of people. Where once there were 12 to 14 incidents of terrorism a day, the...

UNITED NATIONS - Iraq's foreign minister said he's concerned the United States may pull out of the country before the army and police are ready to take responsibility for the nation's security Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari meets with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Thursday, and his wide-ranging agenda includes "the continued engagement" of the United States in Iraq. The Iraqi minister came to New York to urge the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the U.S.-led multinational force, saying Iraqi troops and police cannot yet defend the country against...

The leader of an Islamic party who is expected to be named Iraq's new prime minister in the next few days has urged Tony Blair not to pull out British troops.Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who would be the first Shia to be in charge of the Iraqi government, confounded his critics by saying that his country could not maintain order without the help of foreign soldiers. "Iraq's security services need more personnel, training and equipment," he said yesterday. "We need their presence for a certain time till we can depend on ourselves 100 per cent. "There are many people still working for...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's president said today it would be "complete nonsense" to ask foreign troops to leave the country now, although some could depart by year's end. Officials began the final vote tally from elections to produce a government to confront the insurgency. Despite scattered clashes in rebel areas across the country, Iraq reopened its borders today and commercial flights took off from Baghdad International Airport as authorities eased security restrictions imposed to protect last weekend's landmark voting. In Baghdad, about 200 election workers today began the second — and possibly final — stage of the count. They reviewed...

Iraq (news - web sites)'s president said Tuesday it would be "complete nonsense" to ask foreign troops to leave the country now, although some could depart by year's end. Officials began the final vote tally from elections to produce a government to confront the insurgency.

Aid Groups Worry About U.S. Tsunami Effort Email this Story Jan 21, 9:11 AM (ET) By LELY T. DJUHARI BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Aid groups warned on Friday it might be too soon for the U.S. military to scale back its emergency operations for Asia's tsunami victims, while an informal cease-fire between Indonesian troops and rebels appeared to have collapsed, threatening to derail relief efforts. Following a U.S. announcement on Thursday that American forces would begin immediately transferring responsibility for relief operations to the "appropriate host nations and international organizations," some aid groups expressed concern that the move came...

Baumholder,Germany – Baumholder has been home to a U.S. military base for more than half a century, and, even today, Americans outnumber Germans by more than 2 to 1. But now this town's 4,800 German inhabitants are bracing for the possible withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of Washington's plans to restructure its military. Ulrike Norvell, 48, who works in the child-care department on the U.S. base, seems in shock. "Without the Americans, we simply cannot survive," she says, taking a long drag on her cigarette. "If they go, Baumholder will die." A similar lament echoes through small towns across western...

Iraqi's Plea to Labour: don't Pull Out Troops By Vivienne Morgan, Political Staff, PA News The woman who helped swing the vote at the Labour conference over pulling troops out of Iraq today accused party members of naivety about the situation in the country. Shanaz Rashid – whose husband is a minister in the interim Iraqi government – was earlier given a standing ovation when she made an emotional appeal not to pull troops out. Close to tears, she told party activists that many friends had perished under Saddam Hussein and she had kissed the ground with joy on arriving...

They say the Americans should first 'fix what they broke here' by restoring security. BAGHDAD — Retired police officer Abaas Ramah is scornful of the U.S. presence in Iraq. "Where is the freedom they promised?" he asks. "All the bloodshed, the sabotage, the killings. Who is paying the price? We, the Iraqi civilians." But asked whether U.S. forces should pull out immediately, he responds: Absolutely not. "There will be genocide here if they leave right now," Ramah answers. "They destroyed this country, and it is their responsibility to make it stand again…. Iraq is like a sick old woman who...

While the U.S. State Department is urging Americans to leave Saudi Arabia as the result of a series of terrorist attacks and killings, including that of American Paul Johnson, many Saudis say they do not want to see Americans leave the kingdom. Even so, like their own government, they acknowledge there will likely be more acts of terror, despite the killings Friday of four wanted al-Qaida militants. Morbid, close-up, photographs of the faces of four dead militants killed Friday night by Saudi security forces appeared in Saudi newspapers Sunday morning. Senior Saudi officials said Sunday there were three reasons they...

Afghan, Iraq Presidents Call for Coalition to Remain By Jim Garamone American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, June 13, 2004 – The presidents of Afghanistan and Iraq both called for coalition forces to stay in their countries during separate interviews on NBC's "Meet the Press" today. Afghan President Hamid Kharzai and Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar both said the short-term stability of their countries depends on the U.S.-led coalition staying in their respective lands. Yawar said Iraqi security forces cannot handle the security problems today. The threats from Saddam Hussein regime remnants and outside terrorists is potent, he said, and Iraqi security...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites)'s new prime minister defended the presence of U.S. troops even after the June 30 handover of sovereignty, telling Iraqis in his first nationally televised address Friday that the forces' withdrawal would be a "major disaster." Iyad Allawi, appointed last week to head the interim government, also said that Iraq's new president, Ghazi al-Yawer, will attend the Group of Eight summit being hosted by President Bush (news - web sites) in Sea Island, Ga. next week. At the summit, your government will contribute to the defeat of economic terrorism that criminals are...

<p>BERLIN The report that thousands of American troops now based in Germany and elsewhere in Europe will probably be redeployed did not come as a surprise in Europe, but it has enhanced deep worries especially in Germany that the plans, if they are actually carried out, will be seen as a sign of a weakened U.S. engagement in Europe. . "I can understand the United States," Frank Umbach, a military analyst for the German Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview Friday. "We have a new strategic landscape since the end of the cold war. . "The borders of instability have moved eastward and southward, so from a purely military point of view, I can certainly understand redeployment." . But, according to analysts in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, the report that the United States was considering moving the two divisions stationed in Germany to other locations, coming so soon after the fierce debates over the war in Iraq, could weaken the political will on both sides of the Atlantic to continue a half-century-old tradition of close military cooperation. . "In fact, a good case could be made that new bases elsewhere in Europe, such as in the former communist countries like Romania and Bulgaria, would mean that the American footprint in Europe is actually increasing, which would be a good message," said Jonathan Eyal, a military analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London. . "The problem is that the political handling of this by the Americans has not been very good," Eyal continued. "They haven't succeeded in persuading people that it's actually a bigger involvement, and it has become hopelessly enmeshed in the bad feelings generated by Iraq." . In fact, there have been many announcements and even more rumors over the past year or so that the United States will eventually want to move some of the roughly 70,000 troops it maintains in Germany, which include the two army divisions of the V Corps as well a contingent of 15,000 airmen stationed in several airfields throughout the country. . Even the most recent and most detailed report of a planned redeployment, coming just as President George W. Bush arrives in Europe for talks with European leaders and for the 60th anniversary D-Day celebrations in France, have not been confirmed by the U.S. officials. . Plans for a general global redeployment of American forces are still being made, and consultations among the allies are continuing on that subject, the Associated Press reported Friday. . But the notion that fully two divisions now based in Germany are likely to be sent elsewhere was decidedly not well received in this country, where military analysts said they continued to hope that the Americans could be persuaded to retain a large military presence here. . "I hope the political decision has not yet been made," Christian Schmidt, a spokesman for the opposition Christian Democratic Union, said in a telephone interview, "and that at the D-Day talks and at the NATO summit in Istanbul at the end of this month there will be serious talks about the necessity to have the Americans politically and military engaged in Europe." . "I think that the American administration has not yet fully considered the consequences of such a decision, which would basically wipe out the United States military presence in 'Old Europe,'" Schmidt said, referring to countries like Germany and France. . Withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany would clearly upset many arrangements now already decades old. There is, for example, the economic importance to Germany of many thousands of American troops living in this country with their families, some in towns heavily dependent on their presence. The New York Times Commitment to Europe is major issue.....</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites)'s new prime minister made his first address to the nation Friday, saying a rapid U.S. withdrawal from the country would be a "major disaster" because Iraqis are not ready to handle their own security. Iyad Allawi's call for improved Iraqi security and an end to guerrilla attacks came as unknown assailants attacked a U.S. Army patrol in Baghdad near the Shiite district of Sadr City, killing five U.S. soldiers and wounding five others. Still, there were signs of hope, as an Iraqi official said the U.S. military and Shiite militia loyal to...

Iraq's new Foreign Minister has told the United Nations Security Council that "any premature departure of international troops would lead to chaos and the real possibility of a civil war". "This would cause a humanitarian crisis and provide a foothold for terrorists to launch their evil campaign in our country and beyond our borders," Hoshiya Zebari said. Although he did not refer specifically to Australian troops, his speech to the council came just hours after President George Bush said Mark Latham's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq would be a "disastrous decision". Mr Zebari also said there was no need...

Even after the June 30 handover of authority in Iraq, the majority of Iraqis would prefer some form of U.S. security force in their country, coalition authorities said today. Dan Senor, senior spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, told reporters during a briefing in Baghdad that polling data indicates the majority of Iraqis "don't want the U.S. to go." "The important part is that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis recognize that there is a role for U.S. forces after the June 30 handover," he said. Senor said polling data taken by the coalition indicates that most Iraqis are grateful for...

Polls indicate Iraqis want the occupation of their country to end, but don't want the coalition to leave, the senior spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority said here today. Dan Senor said the overwhelming majority of Iraqis are grateful for their liberation and are glad that Saddam Hussein's rule is over. They want to rule themselves, he said, but they know the security situation in Iraq requires continued coalition presence. Senor and Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7, met with members of the Pentagon press corps traveling with Defense Secretary Donald H....

Yesterday's demonstrations in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities were a benchmark: Iraq's resistance to terrorism has begun. Ironically, the first TV station to report such a revolutionary development was none other than al-Jazeera, the jihad channel across the Arab world. But the exclusive airing of such footages was not so innocent. The Qatar-based media understood much faster than Western networks the real dimensions of these marches. Therefore it decided to report it first, and, through condescending coverage, demean it in the eyes of Iraqi and Arab viewers, a traditional-yet-efficient subversive tactic. But whatever were the desperate attempts to pre-empt the...

Code: ZE03120905 Date: 2003-12-09 Baghdad Archbishop Says Coalition Forces Must Stay Otherwise, Iraq Faces Chaos, He Warns BAGHDAD, Iraq, DEC. 9, 2003 (Zenit.org).- An eventual withdrawal from Iraq of Americans or allies "would be a great lack of responsibility," as "it would mean going from anarchy to chaos," warns Latin-rite Archbishop Jean Benjamin Sleiman of Baghdad. "To abandon Iraq to itself would imply to prepare a tragic future for us all," the archbishop said to Missionary Service News Agency on Friday. "It would be a terrible legacy for the West which would be added to the Middle East focus,...

BAGHDAD - To return to Baghdad after six months is to encounter a country at once dispiriting and yet, in spite of all, still hopeful, if flaggingly so. The letdown begins at 19,500 feet over the southwestern limits of the city, in a twin-turboprop aircraft of Royal Jordanian Airlines that seeks safety from ground-to-air missiles by flying a downward spiral over what was Saddam International Airport -- the first foothold seized by U.S. troops when they reached the city on April 3. With no metal chaff or magnesium flares to fool missile guidance systems, the pilots on the 900-kilometre flight...

<p>President Bush yesterday rejected the notion that a plan to transfer power to Iraqis by July 1 is tantamount to a hasty exit strategy, telling Iraqi Governing Council members at the White House "when they hear me say we're staying, that means we're staying."</p>

DIWANIYA, Iraq, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have been criticised for heavy-handedness in many parts of Iraq, but in the bustling riverside city of Diwaniya residents long to have them back. Spanish soldiers took over responsibility for the city from United States troops back in July, and while the Europeans are seen to be fair and firm overseers, many in the city say they miss the Americans' warmth and openness. "The Americans have a good culture, they got along with us and integrated with us -- they brought down the barriers," said Ala Saleh, 41, a high school...

Shadowy insurgents fight an escalating guerrilla war against U.S. troops. More and more American boys come home in body bags. Americans at home begin to question why. A president's popularity falters. Is the struggle in Iraq turning into another Vietnam? If you have been watching the news lately, you might think so. Only six months into the U.S. occupation, people are already calling Iraq a quagmire.Just as in Vietnam, they say, the lumbering U.S. military is being tied down by highly motivated local guerrillas. Just as in Vietnam, Washington keeps saying that everything is under control. Just as in Vietnam,...

SAINT-SYMPHORIEN-LE-CHATEAU, France (AP) - A U.S. pullout from Iraq would be "catastrophic," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday, urging countries to take a strong united stance to stabilize Iraq. De Villepin, whose impassioned speeches at the UN Security Council against U.S. plans to attack Iraq won him international praise, spoke at the close of two days of informal talks among foreign ministers from Europe and North Africa. When asked whether he could envision the United States pulling out of Iraq, de Villepin responded: "Obviously, a pullout from Iraq today would be catastrophic and would absolutely not correspond to...

WASHINGTON - Violence may be surging in Iraq, but there's another thing Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz says Iraqis fear: President Bush getting booted from office. Wolfowitz, speaking at Georgetown University, said a worried resident of the southern city of Najaf asked him in July at a town hall meeting, "What's going to happen to us if George Bush loses the election?" Wolfowitz didn't mention the Democrats, but he suggested the question sums up Iraqi fears that a new team in the White House would abandon them. Wolfowitz said he tried to assure the Iraqis, but "when they hear...

Despite all of the car bombings and religious restlessness, the future of Iraq looks brighter than one would think. Of course, you wouldn't know it from what you read in the U.S. media or hear on BBC with their tales of terror, mayhem, and "quagmire." True, the old Ba'athists and Saddam loyalists, aided by the influx of international terrorists, are doing all in their power to force the coalition occupiers out so that they can restore their gangster reign of terror over the Iraqi people. US soldiers inspect a suicide bomb attack outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad earlier this...

October 16,2003 Iraqi Columnist:The Occupation of Iraq Means Liberty, Even if the Whole World Maintains Otherwise In three articles published by the London-based Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Kamel Al-Sa 'doun, an Iraqi writer who resides in Norway, justified the U.S. occupation and political rehabilitation of Iraq. The following are excerpts from the three articles: The Occupation of Iraq is a Blessed Liberation "Yes, the occupation is a blessed and promising liberation for Iraq, even if the U.N., Europe, Russia, India, and all the Arabs say otherwise. The logic of international law could be of interest to the French, the...

Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops, local Marine says BY BRIAN WILLIAMS Times Staff Writer KOUTS -- On a peaceful rural porch overlooking a broad stretch of cornfield, with silent hummingbirds hovering at a feeder, Pfc. Jacob Cristea shows photos of blown-out tanks, himself assembling shrapnel grenades and the grim discoveries in a mass grave. Cristea has blood and guts war stories from his six months in Iraq and Kuwait, but he says the last thing he wants to do is to tell them. Instead, the Marine prefers Americans see beyond the fighting and dying in Iraq and know the good he...

October 16, 2003 No.590 Iraqi Columnist: The Occupation of Iraq Means Liberty, Even if the Whole World Maintains Otherwise In three articles published by the London-based Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Kamel Al-Sa'doun, an Iraqi writer who resides in Norway, justified the U.S. occupation and political rehabilitation of Iraq. The following are excerpts from the three articles: The Occupation of Iraq is a Blessed Liberation "Yes, the occupation is a blessed and promising liberation for Iraq, even if the U.N., Europe, Russia, India, and all the Arabs say otherwise. The logic of international law could be of interest to the...

WASHINGTON -- When Gallup set out recently to poll Baghdad residents, the biggest surprise may have been the public's reaction to the questioners: Almost everyone responded to the pollsters' questions, with some pleading for a chance to give their opinions. "The interviews took more than an hour to do, people were extremely cooperative with open-ended questions," said Richard Burkholder, director of international polling for Gallup. "People went on and on." But many of those Iraqis still have sharply mixed feelings about the U.S. military presence. The Gallup poll found that 71 percent of the capital city's residents felt U.S. troops...

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Gallup set out recently to poll Baghdad residents, the biggest surprise may have been the public's reaction to the questioners: Almost everyone responded to the pollsters' questions, with some pleading for a chance to give their opinions. "The interviews took more than an hour to do, people were extremely cooperative with open-ended questions," said Richard Burkholder, director of international polling for Gallup. "People went on and on." But many of those Iraqis still have sharply mixed feelings about the U.S. military presence. The Gallup poll found that 71 percent of the capital city's residents felt U.S....

<p>BAGHDAD — More than two-thirds of Baghdad residents would like to see U.S. troops stay in Iraq for an extended period, according to a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in the violence-racked Iraqi capital.</p> <p>The city has been struck by suicide bombers three times in the past five days, including yesterday in an attack outside the Turkish Embassy. Witnesses said the driver and a bystander were killed, and hospitals said at least 13 were wounded.</p>

SUPPORT for keeping American troops in Iraq is higher in Baghdad than in the United States. Of course, in Baghdad they don’t get The New York Times, The Washington Post or the CBS Evening News. The Gallup polling organization hired Iraqis to go door to door in Baghdad and ask residents their opinions on a variety of questions regarding the war and their country. Iraqis, completely unaccustomed to being asked what they think about political matters, wouldn’t shut up when finally given the chance to speak their minds. “People went on and on,” Gallup’s director of international polling said. What...