Allawi: We Don't Need German Troops

[MidEastMan]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/image/0,1587,1389358_6,00.jpg

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi kicks off a brief visit to Germany Thursday to rally support for his beleaguered country and convince Berlin that Iraq will become a democracy.



Ahead of his Friday meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Allawi stressed that Iraq doesn't need German troops. Instead he called on Germany to intensify its help in reconstructing Iraq.



"I didn't come to Germany to ask for troops," Allawi wrote in an article published in the Thursday issue of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily. "For our security, we need better Iraqi troops, not additional soldiers from faraway countries. That's why Germany training Iraqi personnel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is so important."




So far, Germany has trained 430 Iraqi police in the UAE, and since Nov. 21 the German army has been conducting additional courses there for Iraqi soldiers. Still, Berlin, which vehemently opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, has taken considerable flack -- from Washington as well as EU members Britain and Italy -- for categorically ruling out sending troops to help stablize Iraq.



Refusing to comment on the criticisms, Allawi praised bilateral relations, which he said were untarnished by a colonial past, and said that German companies too should take part in rebuilding the country.

"No choice" in Fallujah



In the newspaper article, he wrote that his government was constructing a democracy that was open to all Iraqis who support non-violence. He had ordered military action in Fallujah because the rebels there left him no other option, he said.



Allawi stressed that the majority of Iraqis supported his government's aims: "an Iraq governed by Iraqis and controlled only by Iraqi soldiers and police." He said that the fact that Iraqis continue to volunteer for the army and the police, despite danger of suicide bombers at recruitment offices, showed that they back the government.



He wrote that although the Iraqis were grateful for the help of foreign soldiers, they looked forward to the day that the troops would no longer be needed to maintain stability.



http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1415777,00.html?maca=en-rss_english_top-388-rdf

[maddezmom]

1. I look forward to the day, too

hope I'm alive to see the day there are no foreign troop in Iraq.

[Fenris]

2. I'm 20 and I could see it happening sometime before I die.

Maybe.

[daleo]

9. I don't think Allawi will live to see it

The day there are no foreign troops in Iraq is the day Allawi is dead, or has fled to the U.S.

[slor]

3. Allawi: "There is no need for..."

"German troops, unless you still have the 1940's variety".

[Tempest]

7. "No need for German troops"

"We've suckered the Americans into giving us all we need."

[DulceDecorum]

10. Fear the ....

http://www.rathergood.com/laibach/

[MidEastMan]

11. lol funny flash

[number6]

4. German Troops, we don't need no stinkin German Troops !

awoli er I mean all-ow-wee ....

[vol5516]

5. Good!

Good for Allawi!!!

[maddezmom]

6. LOL...German Troops were never, ever going to go to Iraq

[Sparkly]

8. Exactly!! "Oh by the way, Switzerland??"

"You'll be reassured to note that we're doing so well, we won't be needing your troops either."

[clem_c_rock]

12. Idiot Allawi - Pathetic Victim of Jedi MInd Trick

I have an idea. Lets throw all members of the PNAC, GW's staff, and Idiot Allawi in a big hellicopter, drop them in the middle of Falluja and let the people have their way w/ these sick freaks.

[MidEastMan]

13. kick

[whyzayker]

14. albeeseeingya

Departing troops test Iraq coalition

About one-third of coalition troops in Iraq, other than British and American soldiers, have left or are scheduled to be withdrawn after Jan. 30 electiaons, and remaining coalition members say they will be hard-pressed to fill the gaps.
Troops from the Netherlands and Hungary are to leave in mid-March; Poland -- which ranks fourth in terms of numbers -- intends to downsize its troop force; and Italy -- the third largest troop provider -- may not extend its present commitment, which ends this month, by more than three to six months.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20041202-115257-6961r

[Supersedeas]

15. Untarnished by a colonial past and other *speak messed mixages

[hatrack]

16. Allawi - "We have no need for Alpha Centauri Fire Commandos."

The odds of German troops going into Iraq are only slightly better.

[flobee1kenobi]

17. I would actually lose respect for Germany

if they spent a single cent to rebuild Iraq

"German companies too should take part in rebuilding the country."
after they were called part of "old europe" "unfriendly" and told they were not needed-I would tell Allawi to fix it himself!