Australian Politics Forum - The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.

imcrookonit

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The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Nov 27^th, 2013 at 12:44pm

Last Australian soldiers leave Iraq, ending 11-year campaign

Date
November 26, 2013

Australia ended its controversial military involvement in Iraq on Monday by withdrawing its remaining two military officers from the blood-soaked country.

The cost to Australia since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq - the most divisive and bitterly debated military mission since the Vietnam War - is estimated to have been more than $3 billion. Sad

What began as an attempt to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction - which turned out to no longer exist in Iraq - has since evolved in a continuing and bloody insurgency that only this month has reportedly killed 360 people.

Suicide bombings, roadside blasts, bombings at a market and a drive-by shooting took the lives of at least 27 people in Iraq on Monday, according to an Associated Press report.

Australia's involvement began in March 2003, when then prime minister John Howard agreed to a request from US president George W. Bush to send about 2000 troops to strike against Saddam Hussein's regime.

Australia withdrew most of its troops in mid-2008, when then prime minister Kevin Rudd declared "mission over".

However, a total of 11 Australian military officers have served since then with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) in a deployment known as Operation Riverbank.

The final two officers, both from the Australian Army, were Colonel Steve Saddington and Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Hawke. Both were withdrawn on Monday.

Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant-General Ash Power said the officers' withdrawal and the end of Operation Riverbank was the final chapter in the Australian Defence Force's involvement in Iraq.

“The successful completion of Operation Riverbank represents the conclusion of the ADF's contribution to the international efforts in Iraq," General Power said.

"The withdrawal of these final two officers brings to a close what has been a significant commitment by the Australian Army and the ADF for more than a decade.”

Colonel Saddington was based in Baghdad, serving as senior military adviser to the special representative of the UN Secretary-General within UNAMI.

Colonel Hawke served his deployment in Kirkuk as a military adviser.

General Power said the withdrawal of the two officers was "an important step in our drawdown from the Middle East area of operations – the ADF will have no presence in Iraq and a very different presence in Afghanistan by the end of 2013”.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently visited Afghanistan to confirm that most of Australia's troops there would return to Australia by Christmas.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/last-australian-soldiers-leave-iraq-ending-11year-campaign-20131126-2y7bz.html#ixzz2loH3vdSH

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Baronvonrort

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #1 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 12:48pm

The leftists think we should have continued forever with enforcing the No fly zones in the North to protect the kurds and the no fly zones in the south to protect the shiites from Saddam.

So why were there no American troops killed for over a week after the Saddam statues were torn down, did the Iraqi's start attacking the troops when the religious nutjobs called Ayatollah's said Allah orders them to attack the troops?

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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.

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BigOl64

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #2 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 1:54pm

Quote:

The cost to Australia since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq - the most divisive and bitterly debated military mission since the Vietnam War - is estimated to have been more than $3 billion. Sad

To put that into context, Australias spend about 1.3 trillion dollars in welfare payments over the same period to people who achieve less than fvckall

Well done Australia, pack of whingers

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polite_gandalf

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #3 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 2:54pm

Baronvonrort wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 12:48pm:

So why were there no American troops killed for over a week after the Saddam statues were torn down, did the Iraqi's start attacking the troops when the religious nutjobs called Ayatollah's said Allah orders them to attack the troops?

Firstly, stupid logic as always Baron.

Secondly you are wrong. This is a list of the US soldiers killed by hostile fire in the 7 days after the statues were toppled on April 9.

Quote:

4-12-2003 US Owens Jr., David Edward Lance Corporal 20 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Virginia Winchester 3rd BN, 5th Marine REG, 1st Marine Division Camp Pendleton, CA
4-12-2003 US Gonzalez, Jesus Angel Corporal 22 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine California Indio 1st Tank BN, 1st Marine Division Twentynine Palms, CA
4-11-2003 US Tejeda, Riayan Augusto Staff Sergeant 26 Hostile - hostile fire - ambush Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine New York New York 3rd BN, 5th Marine REG Camp Pendleton, CA
4-10-2003 US Hemingway, Terry Wayne Staff Sergeant 39 Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Army New Jersey Willingboro C Company, 1st BN, 15th INF REG Fort Benning, GA
4-10-2003 US Bohr Jr., Jeffrey Edward Gunnery Sergeant 39 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Iowa Ossian
4-14-2003 US Mileo, Jason David Corporal 20 Hostile - friendly fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Maryland

http://icasualties.org/Iraq/Fatalities.aspx

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A resident Islam critic who claims to represent western values said:
Quote:

Outlawing the enemy's uniform - hijab, islamic beard - is not depriving one's own people of their freedoms.

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Andrei.Hicks

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #4 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:16pm

Worth remembering we removed a tyrant who gassed his own people in the north, imprisoned and executed men, women and children and starved the Shias in the South.

Those against us taking action, have a thought a about what you advocated to leave in place.

"Would I take the same decision again?
Yes absolutely"
Tony Blair.

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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination - Oscar Wilde

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greggerypeccary

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #5 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:18pm

BigOl64 wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 1:54pm:

Quote:

The cost to Australia since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq - the most divisive and bitterly debated military mission since the Vietnam War - is estimated to have been more than $3 billion. Sad

To put that into context, Australias spend about 1.3 trillion dollars in welfare payments over the same period to people who achieve less than fvckall

However, they're not brainwashed, expendable pawns who kill people.

I know where I'd rather see my tax dollars go.

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Ex Dame Pansi

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #6 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:27pm

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:16pm:

Worth remembering we removed a tyrant who gassed his own people in the north, imprisoned and executed men, women and children and starved the Shias in the South.

Those against us taking action, have a thought a about what you advocated to leave in place.

"Would I take the same decision again?
Yes absolutely"
Tony Blair.

Tyrants are my enemies too.

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"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Hendrix
andrei said: Great isn't it? Seeing boatloads of what is nothing more than human garbage turn up.....

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BigOl64

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #7 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 6:03pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:18pm:

BigOl64 wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 1:54pm:

Quote:

The cost to Australia since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq - the most divisive and bitterly debated military mission since the Vietnam War - is estimated to have been more than $3 billion. Sad

To put that into context, Australias spend about 1.3 trillion dollars in welfare payments over the same period to people who achieve less than fvckall

However, they're not brainwashed, expendable pawns who kill people.

I know where I'd rather see my tax dollars go.

Yeah good one idiot, well worth the effort you put in on this one.

Back to the school yard little boy.

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Swagman Gold Member Offline Beware of cheap imitations...... Posts: 15095 Illawarra NSW Gender:	Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War. Reply #8 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 6:04pm The war wasn't illegal
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Andrei.Hicks

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #9 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 6:07pm

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:27pm:

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:16pm:

Worth remembering we removed a tyrant who gassed his own people in the north, imprisoned and executed men, women and children and starved the Shias in the South.

Those against us taking action, have a thought a about what you advocated to leave in place.

"Would I take the same decision again?
Yes absolutely"
Tony Blair.

Tyrants are my enemies too.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/files/2012/01/obamatyrant1.jpg

That's strange on his election day, one of the two of us was celebrating.

So given it wasn't me, who does that leave?

Or have you done a 180 reversal??

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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination - Oscar Wilde

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greggerypeccary

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #10 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 6:07pm

BigOl64 wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 6:03pm:

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:18pm:

BigOl64 wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 1:54pm:

Quote:

The cost to Australia since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq - the most divisive and bitterly debated military mission since the Vietnam War - is estimated to have been more than $3 billion. Sad

To put that into context, Australias spend about 1.3 trillion dollars in welfare payments over the same period to people who achieve less than fvckall

However, they're not brainwashed, expendable pawns who kill people.

I know where I'd rather see my tax dollars go.

Yeah good one.

Thank you.

For those who missed it:

However, they're not brainwashed, expendable pawns who kill people.

I know where I'd rather see my tax dollars go.

Cheers.

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Peter Freedman

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #11 - Nov 27^th, 2013 at 10:20pm

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 5:16pm:

Worth remembering we removed a tyrant who gassed his own people in the north, imprisoned and executed men, women and children and starved the Shias in the South.

Those against us taking action, have a thought a about what you advocated to leave in place.

"Would I take the same decision again?
Yes absolutely"
Tony Blair.

FFS, Boer, do you think Blair would admit that the most important decision he made while UK PM was wrong? Not even you can be that naive.

Thank God at last Australia has disentangled itself from the mess Bush made.

But when the Americans start yet another adventure, would Abbott have the balls to refuse them? I doubt it.

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God grant me the patience to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and, above all, the wisdom to tell the difference.

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Baronvonrort

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Re: The Cost Of The illegal Iraq War.
Reply #12 - Nov 30^th, 2013 at 4:36pm

polite_gandalf wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 2:54pm:

Baronvonrort wrote on Nov 27^th, 2013 at 12:48pm:

So why were there no American troops killed for over a week after the Saddam statues were torn down, did the Iraqi's start attacking the troops when the religious nutjobs called Ayatollah's said Allah orders them to attack the troops?

Firstly, stupid logic as always Baron.

Secondly you are wrong. This is a list of the US soldiers killed by hostile fire in the 7 days after the statues were toppled on April 9.

Quote:

4-12-2003 US Owens Jr., David Edward Lance Corporal 20 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Virginia Winchester 3rd BN, 5th Marine REG, 1st Marine Division Camp Pendleton, CA
4-12-2003 US Gonzalez, Jesus Angel Corporal 22 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine California Indio 1st Tank BN, 1st Marine Division Twentynine Palms, CA
4-11-2003 US Tejeda, Riayan Augusto Staff Sergeant 26 Hostile - hostile fire - ambush Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine New York New York 3rd BN, 5th Marine REG Camp Pendleton, CA
4-10-2003 US Hemingway, Terry Wayne Staff Sergeant 39 Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Army New Jersey Willingboro C Company, 1st BN, 15th INF REG Fort Benning, GA
4-10-2003 US Bohr Jr., Jeffrey Edward Gunnery Sergeant 39 Hostile - hostile fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Iowa Ossian
4-14-2003 US Mileo, Jason David Corporal 20 Hostile - friendly fire Baghdad Baghdad U.S. Marine Maryland

http://icasualties.org/Iraq/Fatalities.aspx

When news travels the traditional Islamic way which is on the back of a camel or using carrier pidgeons the message takes a while to be delivered.

So how many deaths were there from 4/13/2003 to 4/24/2003 from hostile enemy was it zip zero zilch?

From 4/13/2003 to 5/12/2003 how many were killed by hostile Iraqis?

The religious nutjobs who preach Islam were responsible for hostile actions resuming.

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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.

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