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Honor of the Spanish army tarnished by the sudden withdrawal
Article from Agencie "I feel satisfied with the five months I spent here. For me it was a great professional experience and I would do it again," said Captain Jose Miguel Garces, who is scheduled to leave Iraq in one week. Private Marco Antonio Laguna, who leaves in three days, said he was proud to have helped bring security to Iraqis as he showed a wound in his hand sustained in an attack on his patrol 12 days ago by militia loyal to wanted Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr. But privately some said the "honour of the Spanish army" might have been tarnished by the sudden withdrawal, especially in the light of recent attacks by Sadrâs Mehdi Army militia. . . . On the streets of Diwaniyah some Iraqis also felt that Spain was caving in to "terrorism both at home and in Iraq," and that the troop pullout would lead to lawlessness and would leave them at the mercy of mobs and militias. Some of the same sentiments were echoed on the streets of Najaf, where Sadr has been holed up for the past two weeks despite the presence of Spanish troops. . . . Some soldiers felt they were leaving with a lot of work still to be done in helping Iraqis rebuild their country. The Spanish contingent was involved in many community development projects in Diwaniyah funded by the government. The biggest project was a 1.5 million euro rebuilding and modernisation for the cityâs maternity hospital. The project only started in November and doctors at the hospital felt Spain was pulling out too soon. The spokesman for the Spanish troops in Iraq, Lieutenant Guillermo Novelles, said the fate of such projects would be decided in Madrid. Aside from the military code of honour and their desire to finish the job, some Spanish troops said they were also sad to be leaving some of the Iraqi friends they had made in Diwaniyah. Thereâs plenty of good reason to criticize the Posted by: Mike 2004-04-21 |
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