By the time the news of the invasion surfaced yesterday, I had already completed my daily research so I missed the initial report of the invasion.
"The Iranian flag has been lowered. The Iranian troops have pulled back 50 meters, but they have not gone back to where they were before. The Iraqi government asked for the troops to go back to where they were," Dabbagh said.
The border flare-up kicked off a storm of emergency meetings and bilateral phone calls, with Baghdad calling for an immediate withdrawal yet also seeking to contain damage to its important relationship with neighboring Iran.
In a phone conversation on Saturday evening, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari underlined the need for a meeting of officials "with the intention of enforcing bilateral border agreements," Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.
On Friday, global oil prices climbed following media reports that the Iranian troops had commandeered a well at the field southeast of Baghdad.
The two countries have a long history of border feuds, including one that escalated into a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s. The relationship warmed after 2003, when fellow Shi’ite Muslims took over in Baghdad and the countries’ trade and religious tourism ties began to deepen… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Reuters>
Fortunately the incursion was not as severe as I had originally read. I thought Iran had taken over an oil field, not just a single well. Nevertheless, there is still reason for concern here, because any instability could delay the further withdrawal of US troops in Iraq who desperately need to come home.
12 Responses to “Iran Withdrawing Troops from Iraq”
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sorry for the false alarm; it seemed pretty serious when i read it too…
i thought it was a big deal too – then again everything in the middle east can become a big deal
well, before i go off half-cocked again, does anyone want to check into this: Nigeria in crisis as delta militants claim 'warning attack' on pipeline
At least the Iraqis are handing this themselves and we are taking a 'hands off' stance. Glad to see that finally happening. I think they can both work together to get this straightened out; after all the Iranians have been sending weapons and militia over there for some time now. This well is in disputed territory; international law says it technically belongs to Iran (from a 1975 declaration of some sort). I think the Iranians are just pissed off, they're people are not happy with their leadership, and nothing sparks patriotism like pissing off another country. The neocons will be screaming for war against Iran, like they always do. I say let them work it out and negotiate with them if needed (although since the Iranians hate us so much, maybe we could send the Brits or someone they hate less than them. The French? Certainly not the UN.).
It is certainly a touchy situation, but it's the Middle East. These people will be fighting with each other for all of eternity and I just see no way around it. Especially with our tolerance of Israel basically getting away with murder on a daily basis and us funding that to the hilt. We've done nothing but make that whole region far more unstable with our wars for oil, and us getting involved any further could set off a backlash that no one wants. Someday, that whole area will be turned into a glass parking lot (and unfortunately, we may be the ones doing it, if the Republicans ever get control again). I just hope it's not us that does it. If it's gonna happen, I hope they do it to themselves.
And DC and anyone else who is Jewish, no offense intended. This is just my personal opinion. Please take it as such.
Or I could become Secretary of State, go over there with the mom voice and the look of death, and say "You get this, you get this, you get this and finally you get this. Sign it or everyone's gonna be in time out until you do. Here's your pen. And if I have to come back here again, someone's going to the hospital and I'm bringing my gun. The one with hollow points and you will be wallpaper. AM I CLEAR????"
They would all sign (I mean who wants to be in a room with a small, blond, crazy woman for any longer than they have to?) and it would be done. Forever. Because no one trusts crazy women; you just never know what they'll do.
And I forgot to add "We're taking all your toys (I mean we paid for most of them anyway) away; your boats, your guns, your planes, your missiles, your nukes, and whatever other crap you have and we're going home. I have 100 C-130 parked right outside and more coming. Start packing your shit now. All of it and then we are sending every inspector known to man to find all the crap you hid. Oh, and all your nuclear and weapons scientists are being summarily deported to American Samoa where we can keep an eye on them. You guys can throw rocks at each other until the end of time. That's it – START PACKING NOW! Don't make me tell you twice!"
Hell, give me some maps and the treaties and a couple of days. Then I'll go; I don't even have to be Secretary of State. I'd do this for world peace and make those crazy assholes behave for a change. And everyone has to go; the Saudis, the Lebanese, the Iraqis, the Iranians, the Afghanis, the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Syrians, the Jordanians and throw Egypt in there for good measure. If I missed anyone, please let me know. 🙂
Not your fault, RJ. The initial stories that came out were flawed. I check your link out tomorrow.
DC, it worried me too. That region has a history of inflaming fast.
Lisa, I think you will find that most progressive Jews do not support the abuses of the current Israeli regime.
PS Sic'em Lisa!!
Lisa G,
I must disagree on one point:
"Because no one trusts crazy women; you just never know what they'll do."
I think no one trusts SMART crazy women,which is you 🙂
Teabaggers trust crazy women implicitly,witness Bachman and Palin.
Oso,
Thank you again for the compliment. I can fake it long enough to get past the teabaggers. It's not even going to be challenge.
Then, I'm off to Africa, but I want those Navy sharp shooters (the ones that killed the Somali pirates) standing next to me at all times. And about 200 CIA snipers dispatched to each and every country. Pick those nasty dictators off one by one. You won't listen to the Mom voice, fine; here's your other choice. Hell, how can that lose?
from Time: US Companies Shut Out As Iraq Auctions Oil Fields – Those who claim that the U.S. invaded Iraq to get control of the country's oil reserves will be left scratching their heads by the results of last weekend's auction of Iraqi oil contracts: Not a single U..S. company secured a deal in the auction of contracts that will shape the Iraqi oil industry for the next couple of decades. Two of the most lucrative of the multi-billion-dollar oil contracts went to two countries which bitterly opposed the U.S. invasion — Russia and China – while even Total Oil of France, which led the charge to deny international approval for the war at the U.N. Security Council in 2003, won a bigger stake than the Americans in the most recent auction.
Oso and Lisa, you two are emen more entertaining together than individually.
RJ, Time is way behind the curve on this one. Even I posted an article on the US being shut out weeks ago.