Manila to Withdraw from Iraq 'As Soon as Possible' (“In response to your request…”)

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 7/12/04

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DUBAI (Reuters) - The Philippines will withdraw its forces from Iraq (news - web sites) "as soon as possible," Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Seguis said on Monday in a statement he read out on al Jazeera television.

"In response to your request, the Philippines ... will withdraw its humanitarian forces as soon as possible," Seguis said according to al Jazeera's Arabic translation of his remarks. His statement was addressed to the group which is holding a Filipino driver hostage.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Roger that. What is with these naive governments?

[doug from upland]

The point is not how many. They are going to try to pick off one nation at a time until they believe they can isolate us. And they are certainly counting on those traitorous bastards in our country to give them aid and comfort. Fifty years from now, there may well be a debate on why Michael Moore was not hung for treason.

[veronica]

I think I'm going to puke.

[savedbygrace]

The real irony is that the hostage is already dead. Probably.

[NJ_gent]

"The point is not how many. They are going to try to pick off one nation at a time until they believe they can isolate us."

You know, I'm not isolationist by nature, but if the rest of the world wants to turn tail and run every time someone makes a threat, then perhaps we ought to withdraw our troops and our economy from the rest of the world, then lock down our borders and coasts completly with all those extra troops we'd have, and kick back while the rest of the planet descends into chaos. Give me secure borders and coasts, and a working, functional missile shield, and I'll be perfectly content.

In fifty years, maybe there will be some people worth talking to once more.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Is it too late to give the Philippines back to Japan?

j/k

This is actually sort of bizarre to me:  I work with a lot - and supervise a few - Philippinoes.  None of them are wimps....and they come from a country that has more than it's fair share of home-grown islamoassholes.

[Psycho_Bunny]

 

If no one else wants to help us take the long, hard road of problem-solving then screw it:  "I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure."

[Dog Gone]

Spain and now the Philippines have gone "wobbly." Terrorism obviously pays, so we can expect more of it.

Nice going, guys. Real macho of you.

[concerned about politics]

The elephant never forgets.

Bush has 4 more years to cut foreign funding with the blessings of the American people.

[Cheetah1]

DISGUSTING

I AM SO MAD...

The USA should say F*** everyone and pull our troops from Europe and everywhere else.

Let these people fight their own damn battles.

[concerned about politics]

The USA should say F*** everyone and pull our troops from Europe and everywhere else.

After the election. We'll owe those countries nothing when they find themselves praising Allah. We can sit back and watch, saying we don't believe in butting in anymore. It's not appreciated.

The elephant never forgets.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

This is way more pathetic than what Spain did. Spain cowering the way they did was bad enough but this is even worse. One group uses one hostage to change a Nations foreign policy. How could a government be so ignorant?

[Marfoe]

The only thing that is keeping me from screaming right now is the slightest chance that once the truck driver is released they will say 'screw you' and send in a couple thousand troops to hunt down these animals.

[pickemuphere]

We are doomed. The one hundred or so Filipino soldiers are leaving Iraq. How can we fight the enemy without the help of this supreme Filipino military force?

Bump. How will our coalition survive without the "Fighting Fifty-One" from Manila?

[concerned about politics]

I AM SO MAD...

Iraq is mostly stable now, and a sovereign nation. It won't be long before our guys come home. Even the terrorists are being cast out by the new government, and the borders monitored.
If nations are pulling out this easily, maybe Iraq is a lot more stable than we know. Maybe we're close to pulling out as well. Most of the work has been done. Just a little more to go.

[Rome2000]

Bunch of Pukimo Molakais.

[af_vet_1981]

I hope these terrorists realize by now that other countries may tuck their tails and run home, but we stay and finish what we came to do.

Not if John Kerry, John Edwards, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy, and Hillary Clinton have their way. They are determined to make this America's next Vietnam.

[Not A Snowbird]

Fair point.

[jriemer]

The Philipines were obviously a Spanish colony.

But they learned nothing when they were an American protectorate.

[blam]

"The Philipines were obviously a Spanish colony."

The national language is American English.