Posted on 07/08/2005 10:12:31 AM PDT by Byron Norris
GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- Italy plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops from Iraq in September, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday. Berlusconi, who was a strong supporter of President Bush on Iraq, sent 3,000 troops to the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. He had previously indicated he hoped a pullout could begin in September. "We will begin withdrawing 300 men in the month of September," Berlusconi said at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.......................
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Thanks for the support Italy but make up your freakin' mind. If Europe is this weak then maybe they deserve to be ruled by the terrorists because that is what will happen if they respond to threats like this in such a matter.
The strong man rules while the weak man follows. The West must be the strong man and the Middle East must be subjugated.
Interesting that they timed this story right after the attack on London.
God, that's awful if Berlosconi is responding to the 7/7 attacks in this fashion. Awful.
This is old news..but WP is rewriting it to make it look bad. See one article from March http://www.theage.com.au/news/Iraq/Italy-to-withdraw-troops-from-Iraq/2005/03/16/1110913633399.html?oneclick=true
I tried the link and it said you have to be registered or something. Bleah!
Italy did indicate it wanted to withdraw at least some of its troops long before yesterday's bombings. I think it had more to do with the security guy being knocked off when that kidnapped reporter was released. Plus (and I'm half Italian so I can say this) -- Italians as a group are not particularly inclined to fight in a war. Kind of like the French, only friendlier. :)
March 16, 2005 - 9:34AM
Italy will start to withdraw its soldiers from Iraq this September, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today, adding to the list of US allies looking to cut their troop levels.
In a television interview, Berlusconi said he was also in discussions with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about a total exit strategy from Iraq, adding the people of both countries wanted their troops to return home.
"We will begin to reduce our contingent even before the end of the year, starting in September, in agreement with our allies," Berlusconi told state Italian television RAI.
When asked when the total withdrawal of troops would take place, Berlusconi was cautious, saying: "It will depend on the capacity of the Iraqi government to provide adequate security."
Thanks!
Translation they are not doing a Spain..
Spaghetti-Eating Italian Surrender Monkeys announce new "terrorism pays" campaign.
Exactly. And the timing was deliberate - please don't bomb us, we are pulling out!
SGRENA: FORMIGONI, "GOVT DID WELL, ANY MEANS IS GOOD" (AGI) - Milan, March 10 - "The government did a good job, 'cause when it comes to saving a life, any means is justifiable, including paying a ransom". Thus said the regional governor of Lombardy, Roberto Formigoni, commenting on the government's efforts to free reporter Giuliana Sgrena. In spite of Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini's statements yesterday during talk show 'Porta a porta' that no ransom was paid, Mr Formigoni said that "ransoms are only justifiable under exceptional circumstances. In any other case, alternative solutions should be pursued". (AGI) -
SGRENA: BIANCO, WAITING FOR ANSWERS ON POSSIBLE RANSOM
(AGI) - Rome, March 8 - The parliamentary committee controlling secret services and security services "has not yet received answers" by the government on the possible payment of a ransom for the liberation of Giuliana Sgrena, stated Enzo Bianco, committee president, at the microphones of "Radio anch'io". "The fact that Italy could have paid a ransom is a very delicate topic, talked and written about by media, but we are not sure that this really happened. Certainly in Italy the choice not to pay ransoms was a winning choice against the phenomenon of kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, particularly serious during the 70ies, but Baghdad is a completely different reality, Italy is united in undertaking any possible step to free possible hostages".
Forza Italia is an Italian political party. It is headed by Silvio Berlusconi who also is Prime Minister of Italy.
It was formed in 1993 by Berlusconi, a successful businessman. At the head of an alliance, the Casa delle Libertà it gained office in the 1994 elections, but lost power when the northern separatist Lega Nord left the coalition. It regained power in the 2001 elections, with the League's support.
A rough translation of its name is "Come on Italy!". From explanation Guide
Casa delle Libertà, or House of Freedoms in English, is an Italian right-wing party alliance, composed of Forza Italia, Alleanza Nazionale and Lega Nord (Northern League), led by Silvio Berlusconi.
The alliance won the 1994 elections, but the resulting government was short lived since the Northern League broke free and went to opposition.
After a 5-year left-wing government, Berlusconi managed to cool down the hotheads of the League, and won the elections again (2001), this time with a stable government. It sought to undermine the proportionality rules of the Italian Additional Member System of elections by running many of its constituency candidates under a decoy list called Abolizione Scorporo, a title which explicity stated its opposition to the counting rules; its tactic largely worked because it had more support than the left-wing Olive Tree (Ulivio) alliance.
In 2003 it was routed in local elections by the Olive Tree alliance, and the League has threatened to pull out of the House of Freedoms. "Berlusconi Ally Sentenced to 9 Yrs in Mafia Trial"
"Berlusconi told to face up to US over shooting"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/07/whost07.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/07/ixworld.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1357411/posts
Excerpt:
From within Mr Berlusconi's centre-Right coalition, Gianni Alemanno, the agriculture minister, spoke out, saying: "Italy must defend its honour.
"We may be trusted allies, but we cannot give the impression of being subordinate."
Bobo Craxi, an ally, and the son of the late premier Bettino Craxi, attacked Mr Berlusconi's "subordinacy" to the US.
He demanded that he stand up to Mr Bush, "even to the point of risking a break in relations", as his father had done to President Reagan in 1985, when he refused to hand over Palestinian terrorists to America.
Very little is being said publicly about who perpetrated the attack, and how.
They will know by now exactly what kind of explosive was used based on chemical residue.
They also have 2 unexploded devices for forensic analysis.
The scale of this attack was much smaller than what AQ usually does - all their past attacks have used much more explosive than this, except for Richard Reid, who had the limitation of sneaking through airport security.
I am going to float an idea.
What if it weren't Al Qaeda at all?
I have been wondering for a while how long it would take for radical leftist and anarchist groups to resort to 4GW type tactics such as suicide bombing. They already riot, loot, and commit acts of gross sabotage, such as on animal research facilities, logging equiptment, burning down starbucks, etc.
Put your skepticism to the side for a second and ponder this.
How much do they want Britain out of Iraq?
How far would the "anti globalization protesters" who were already smashing up Edinburgh go to get the UK out of Iraq and attention off the G8 summit, all at one blow?
How predictable would the response of leftist politicians be once a bombing happened and a "previously unknown al qaeda associated group" claimed responsibility?
The anarchists do not care for human life, especially the sort of bourgois who would be commuting to work at rush hour. They see themselves as ideological allies of the terrorists. Even the "mainstream" sort like Michael Moore praise them as "minutemen of the revolution."
In the absense of evidence as to whom perpetrated this crime, I think this is worth speculating about.
If not this time, my guess is that anarchists and radical leftists "borrowing" the tactics of islamic terrorists is coming. After all, as we've seen in Spain, Israel, and the Democrat party... they work.
Thank you for all the links. Very comprehensive.
I didn't realize that Berlusconi has been in power in some government or another since 1993. For a lot of years, it seemed that Italy changed governments about as often as they changed underwear. Usually a politically unstable country, but the funny part always was that if you asked the average Italian about the instability, it seemed no one really cared about it. I was there once during the second government crisis in about a month...the people I talked to there at the time were very nonchalant about what would be a major crisis in most countries. I also remember that their currency, the lira, was usually almost worthless. The Euro was probably the best thing that ever happened to Italy.
I love the country. The people are quirky, but great to know.
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