Indian troops may go to sovereign Iraq

[ConcernedCanuk]

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Indian troops may go to sovereign Iraq

PTI SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2004 09:13:44 AM

WASHINGTON : India and Bangladesh may want to contribute troops to Iraq after the war-hit country regains sovereignty, the United States has said.

"We have, I think, regular and ongoing contacts not only obviously, with the members of the coalition currently in Iraq, but possible new countries that might want to contribute. These include India and Bangladesh," State Department Deputy Spokesman J Adam Ereli said on Friday.

He was replying to a question on Secretary of State Colin Powell's reported statement that a dozen countries, including India and Bangladesh, are keeping an open mind on sending troops in that time frame.

/snip/

Asked whether their assignment would be to protect the UN mission, he said: "Under discussion. Under discussion."

LINK

[western mass]

1. How much are U.S. taxpayers...

paying these mercenaries, oops I mean *coalition partners*, to send their soldiers to Iraq?

[MetaTrope]

2. Awfully nice of the U.S. to tell India what they're going to do

I wonder if any Indians remember Jalianwala?

[0007]

3. A look in the past

Jalianwala Bagh Massacre

JALLIANVALA BAGH MASSACRE, involved the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenceless Indians by a senior British militry officer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa. Jallianvala Bagh,. a garden belonging to the Jalla, derives name from that of the owners of this piece of land in Sikh times. It was then the property the family of Sardar Himmat Singh (d.1829), a noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who originally came from the village of Jalla, now in Fatehgarh Sahib district of the Punjab. The family were collectively known as Jallhevale or simply Jallhe or Jalle, although their principal seat later became Alavarpur in Jalandhar district. The site, once a garden or garden house, was in 1919 an uneven and unoccupied space, an irregular quadrangle, indifferently walled, approximately 225 x 180 metres which was used more as a dumping ground.

more...Interesting

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/jbagh.html

[jmcgowanjm]

4. India considers the US an Enemy

I'll source this soon, but after Powell (We've got a
high ranking Al Qaeda leader cornered) declared
Pakistan a MNNA(MajorNonNatoAlly), that was the
last straw.

Elections are coming soon to India and making nice w/
the US is not the way to curry(no pun intended) favor
w the Hindus.

Reason: India has always felt surrounded
by Pakistan and China. The US has given
all sorts of software/hardware to both P* and C*,
nothing to India.

India is planning on becoming everything that China
is credited with.

BTW-nice history 0007, and long time no see
Concerned Canuck. I've missed your commentary.

[jmcgowanjm]

8. India doubting its US 'strategic partnership'

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FC27Df06.html

Some influential Indians even are talking of economic warfare with the US "enemy".

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. Help me understand how troops of primarily Hindu background are...

...going to get along with the Islamic population of Iraq.

Am I the only one that sees that this may just send everything in the Middle East careening out of control?

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Everyone except Junior knows the ME is a mess

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The US is getting desperate for help.

They've already got mercenaries in there, and just a day or two a go GW called PUTIN to ask for help.

Putin basically told him to go shove it by saying that he would seriously consider it IF IT'S UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE UN.

There's no way that Junior is going to let anybody else comand HIS troops.

So, Putin get's off the hook, and Junior is firmly 'embedded' on the hook of his own making.

And Canada, ?

Well, we said NO before he could even ask us.

Of course, there's still Mexico . . . .:evilgrin:

[jmcgowanjm]

7. What makes anyone think the ME is under control?

Millions of pilgrims are at their holiest shrine
which is currently under attack by Crusaders.

We are so spread out.

The 31st RCT was hastily thrown together — composed
of whichever units could move to replace the 5th
Marines soonest. These included the 1st Battalion of
the 32nd Infantry, the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Infantry,
the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, and the 31st Tank
Company. The 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry never made it
to the reservoir.


Faith moved his men far forward to occupy the area left
by the 5th Marines — an area too large for one battalion.
The remainder of the 31st RCT set up a second perimeter
to the south. Again, forces were divided with an enemy
threat present. The perimeters were loose, but
MacLean planned to attack first thing in the morning.
Few seemed worried about the dangerous situation for
one night; men of the 31st RCT later said they didn’t
believe the warnings about the Chinese.

http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/ChosinReservoir.htm

Will Iraq replace Chosin Reservoir as the worst debacle
for Marines?

[fedsron2us]

9. Another dumb idea from a dumb administration

First, the British used Indian troops to help quell the Shia uprising in Iraq in the 1920s. The Iraqis will not have forgotten their role in that bloody conflict.

Second, Indian military involvement in Iraq will further inflame Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan and make the overthrow of Mushareff more likely. It increases the risk of a potential nuclear conflict between these two powers.

Third, the 140 million Indian Muslims are unlikely to see such a move as a further sign of the hostility of the BJP dominated Indian government to themselves and their co-religionists elsewhere in the world.

Because it is so stupid you just know that is going to happen.

[cliss]

10. I agree. India is no friend of the US

at least the US of the NeoCons. I've read several commentaries in India press, and they are aghast and horrified at what the US is doing currently in the Middle East.

They have been asked numerous times to get in there and help out. And they have always resisted, because they do not want to get involved in an oil grab.

It just goes to show you that this is a Corporate Administration. If you read the above text, it sounds just like a Marketing Plan. Xerox: "Yes, we believe we have signed up 1,000 new customers in India for some new copiers". They are thinking about signing up for a 3-year lease. We had a sales meeting with them, and they seemed interested. We think we've got a sale."

Salesmen.

[PfcHammer]

11. India is way too smart to enter into this tangled web

the US has shit all over its hands and the poo will get on everyone &
everything it touches. after the enron dhabol debacle, india is
most likely wary of the military industrial complex. the us is
grabbing at straws and dispatching a number of questionable press releases and news stories around the clock. no go on this one.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. grabbing at straws and dispatching a number of questionable press releases

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This was published in the India Times, not by the United States.

In fact, you won't find much about this in the American News compared to what you will find in other countries including Britain and Canada.

The LAST thing that Bush wants is for the American people to realize that he is quite concerned about is OWN military strength.

Even though Bush is on holiday he's called Putin in Russia for help, also called South Korea, Japan, Salvador, and Poland to make sure they weren't thinking of pulling out.

On TOP of that, he's sending Cheney to Asia on Monday to put extra pressure on Japan and South Korea.

Bush is WORRIED.

As he should be.:mad:

[PfcHammer]

13. didn't mean to imply this article in particular

Times of India has since published a flat response of NO from indian govt in response

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. Canada didn't even wait to be asked

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Our Prime Minister went right on the air the other day and said no. Martin was playing the political thing by saying that we couldn't send any. We don't WANT to.

In fact, the Canadian government has asked all Canadians in Iraq to get out, and issued an official travel advisory because Iraq is not safe enough.

I wonder if Junior has asked his other neighbors next door?

I mean, his "ranch" IS only a hop, skip and a jump from Mexico.

How much does it take for Bush to realize that most of the world is against this war? Or maybe he does, and just doesn't care . . .

OH, and thanks for the update on the Indian response to the other article.

Troops to Iraq? Wishful thinking!

NEW DELHI: The Vajpayee government may not have put out an official denial yet but senior officials say a US State Department spokesman's claim about New Delhi considering the dispatch of troops to Iraq is a case of "wishful thinking, pure and simple".

A number of South Block officials involved with the issue told The Times of India on Saturday that there had, not even been any new request from Washington for Indian troops to be sent into Iraq after the so-called transfer of sovereignty takes place on June 30.

"Given the violence there, and the fact that we're going in for elections, it is completely unrealistic for the US to think India can reconsider its stand," said a senior official, adding "Washington is usually never realistic but this is going too far".
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Well said!

[cliss]

15. I believe you are right, CC.

Judging from the tone of Bush's Saturday speech, the rhetoric is sounding more propaganda-like and desperate than ever before.

Here's my take on the "Friendly Coalition" situation: we know that Spain is about to pull out its troops (1,600) at the end of April? I read recently that Britain will run out of military funding at the end of June, so they can't stay whether they want to or not. I believe 2 other european countries are in the same situation.

Japan must be balking right now, caught between a rock and a hard place, with the sobbing hostages on Japanese TV. I'm sure Cheney went over there to threaten them that if they pull out now, we might not protect them against China in the future.

Salvador is balking. The Italians also have hostages, and they must be wondering what to do next.

Swedish newspapers seem to echo the rest of Europe: we do not want to be a part of this war. Former minister Anna Lindh said in an interview that the US had asked Sweden to join, and her response was, "We did not help create this war, and we will not join you in it".

I believe that if even a few countries pull out, the whole thing is going to collapse into chaos. That's how desperate the situation has become.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Japan is in a similar position to what Spain was,

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The people of Spain did not want to go into Iraq, but the Government bowed to the BFEE's bribes/threats, whatever and went in against the people's will.

It was the same in Japan, pressure from the US, and went against the will of the people.

Demonstrations are increasing in Japan to bring the troops home.

I mean these people DO have memories, so are they going to stay over there and die for a country(USA,not Iraq) that slaughtered 10's of thousands of their ancestors/relatives?

If all the bribes, threats and promises were taken out of the equation, I suspect only Britain would be left,

And I think Britain is having an election this year . . .

And the voters are reading the headlines all over the world today

Bush Knew . .

[Robbien]

16. sorry duplicate post