Germany's Idea for stabilizing Iraq! Send in Iran!

AssenKlownenn! I almost shot coffee out my nose!

Wow! He really hates Iraqis!

Greywar,
This seemed like a fairly innocuous comment to me. Nowhere here does Schroeder mention Iran. There are many Muslim nations in the world besides Iran.
Quick question for you...which is the largest Muslim country in the world? Answer: Indonesia.
Indonesian, Malaysian, Somalian troops could all be sent in under the banner of the UN.
I saw you recently chide someone for making posting comments 'beneath' them. Usually I have great respect for your articles/comments 'from the other side' but feel this article is below your usual standards.
Gerry

Gerry - Actually the title was meant as sarcasm intended to heap scorn on the content of the rest of the article which was just as ridiculous. Gerhardt went on to say that he wanted *local* Arab nations to be the peacekeepers. nation like say Jordan, Syria, Saudi and so on... The Arab league itself immediately denounced the plan as "stupid". All those nations surrounding would have a vested interest in simply taking over while they were there. This would of course necessitate *another* invasion by a foreign power. The idea that Iraqi's would welcome Arabs from other tribes as peacekeeps is also patently retarded. Think the US has some region rivalry? Nothin compared to the neighboring nations there. As fo Indonesia I don't think inviting in some of Matahir's "enlightened" ex-cronies is a valid point. have you seen the drivel this government has spouted? Or the crushing fist it has exerted upon it's own poeple? I would sooner invite *Niger*! I should have made the sacastic intent of the humor clearer but I thought the linked articles would have pointed it up straight away.

Greywar,
My appologies and a certain amount of humble ie from my part. I am commenting on JU between running jobs at work and in my haste I did not check out your links. Thanks for clarifying and I agree other countries in the region would not be a good idea to send into Iraq. I still feel that Indonesia, Malaysia etc could provide troops.
Gerry

Greywar,

What exactly is your point? Last year the US tried to persuade Turkey to send troops to the Sunni Triangle based on exactly the same logic as Schroeder is using. The Turks initially agreed but had to change their minds when the Kurds in Iraq made clear that they were VERY against the idea. Perhpas in the light of this, you have some "amusing" insult for Bush, Rumsfeld et al?

And just for the record, in case more AssenKlownenn are reading, Greywar didn't invoke the "N" word. Niger is a country in west Africa.

Here's my brilliant idea on how to make the world a safe and happy place:

1) We withdraw from Iraq and all MidEast places

2) We publicly support and fund Israel to do whatever they want

And if that doesn't work, send them all cool-aid and TVs.

OG - Actually there was a very small minority of the administration in favor of allowing Turkish troops into northern Iraq. If you will recall it was Turkey's insistance on being allowed to do so in exchange for basing rights that led the the war from the south. Bush did *not* want Turkey in Iraq at all at the beginning of the war. Find me a *single* quote from GWB stating that he did and I will retract the full article and issue and apology as long as the quote only attribution is not from either conspiracyplanet.com or the Democratic undergroud Forum. If you can't find one of course I would actually expect you to say so. Also moderatley acceptable would be Condi Rice quotes to the same effect. Look all you want. I will wait. I will accept that Turkey was invited as *part* of a *worldwide* effort, but Schoeder is not suggesting a global effort, quite the opposite as you will find in the links.

OG - By the way welcome to the blog. Glad to have you.

Arquonzo - as always I can count on you being even farther right than me:) Nice to draw the flames away......

Well, we seem to be at odds with definitions of "Muslim country." Gerry, is Indonesia the "largest Muslim country in the world" based on size or population? And is it a "Muslim country" because it contains Muslims? A majority of Muslims? Is it the largest based on population of Muslims or percentage of the total population of Muslims?
Regardless, it's pretty apparent that in these articles and in many peoples views that "Muslim country" is equivalent to "Arab country." Yes, this is inaccurate. But, as I would expect many Iraqis to also hold this fallacy, I don't think that troops from Somalia, Indonesia or *anywhere* are going to be looked upon with less suspicion because they (claim they) are Muslim. (Please note that the previous parenthetical statement is not my view, but what I believe would be the view or purported view of those who still wished to oppose the occupying forces.) I'm glad that the Arab League (did they have a meeting yet?) came to a conclusion that I can agree with, and am further encouraged that King Abdullah II is also speaking out against this idea.

Actually, having a country like Iran involved would not necessarily be a bad thing. Involved, NOT in control.

Many areas of Iraq would not have a problem with Iranian troops as they share culture and religion. Other areas would be flash points though and Iranian troops could not be sent there.

Paul.

The main problem with Schroeders plan was the exclusivity of it. Virtually any nation could station troops in Iraq with relative ease but haveing the neighboring nations there without Western troops as a control measure is sheerest folly.

Who else here misses the good ol' British Empire?

Link

Is the Christian Science Monitor "reliable' enough for you?

I was referring to the so-called "post-war" phase. I didn't explicitly say this in my comment, I didn't think it was necessary.

Now this little misunderstanding has been resolved, perhaps you could explain the difference between the US idea and the German idea.

Second paragraph of the article you linked to:

"The vote is seen as a bid to repair relations with the US and to play a role in the shaping of a future Iraq. It cheers the US, which is keen to bring in large numbers of Muslim troops to join coalition forces."

As for the explanation of the differences I just finished outlining the major difference two comments ago. Additionally your article lacks a Bush or Rice quote and only has someone elses opinion of what they *think* Rummy would say about it. Furthermore the article states in the *first* paragraph that this was a Turkish initiative to curry favor with the US. You will have to do much better than that OG but I appreciate that you took the time to research a bit on it. The CSM in indeed reliable enough for me by the way, they just didn't address the issue we were discussing or include any of the quotes I wanted.

Look, I didn't take any time, I just wanted to clear up a misunderstanding. I was refering to the idea of Turkish troops in the Sunni Triangle AFTER the invasion, as is made clear in my link and your two links.

Also, I dont see a quote from Schroeder saying that he thinks the only troops in Iraq should be those from Muslim countries, that's your interpretation.

The first paragrph of the CS article states that getting Turkey on board had been the aim of the US for months. If you still want to dispute this, why not send them an email?

"You will have to do much better than that OG"

Sorry, I don't take orders from you. I've cleared up this misunderstanding to MY satisfaction. If you're not satisfied, well you'll just have to live with it.

I already conceded the Turkey in Iraq with coalition troops up at (counting) 9 comments above this. If you thinkt he issue is reseolved thats fine OG. You simply didn't produce any attributable quotes to settle it.

pseudosoldier,
The majority of the poulation are Muslim and that makes it the country with the largest number of Muslims. They are fairly benign in their beliefs and while there are Islamic parties in the parliament they are in the minority

Jamaah Islamiyah is a benign Islamic organization? Gerry I think that this is very far from the case here. Abu Bakar Ba'ashir a member of this organization was responsible for the Bali bomings just to name one at random. Indonesia seems to yet *another* case where the majority *claim* to be moderates whiel doing nothing to stop or even mildy discourage the extremists in their midst.

See, this is why I love hangin' with you guys. The intellectual discussion of world politics is just utterly fascinating. The fact that I only understand about half of it is only a minor distraction. I'll get more directly involved when the topic comes around to something I have a better grasp on.... Anyone wanna wrestle?

Greywar,
Yes there are radical elements but the population generally is fairly benign and these extremists are seen as that even in the country. My brother lives in Jakarta and he gives a very different story than we hear in the press. Indonesias biggest problem still is corruption.

The fact that I only understand about half of it is only a minor distraction.

You are not alone there....so join the rest of us AssenKlownenns

I wanna wrestle...cause I don't really understand politics either. We can pick up where we left off when you left. : )

I hope you guys realize that there is nothing altruistic in Greywar's motives for lambasting representatives of the German government; he has simply been been waiting and searching (probably for longer than anyone would consider sane) for an opportunity to use the word "AssenKlownenn". Next he will try other countries and languages. "Payaso del Culo" en espanol, Grey 'ol buddy. Let me know what you can do with it.