iraq - voting with their feet
WORKERS, JUNE 2005 ISSUE
The UN mandate for the belligerent occupation of Iraq expires at the end of 2005 — and many of the countries are voting with their feet.
The Polish government has announced that it will withdraw its 1,700 troops by the end of the year. Bulgaria has said that it will withdraw its 462 troops by the end of December. Ukraine is pulling out its 590 soldiers this May. Italy says it will withdraw its 3,200 troops from September onwards. Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have withdrawn their troops already.
But the Bush and Blair governments have set no exit dates, no end to this illegal and immoral occupation. They aim to stay indefinitely, regardless of all the lives lost, the costs and the risks. 87 British soldiers have now been killed in this unnecessary and counter-productive war.