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Spain Plans to Hasten Withdrawal of Troops
After announcing its decision last weekend to withdraw forces from Iraq, Spain has raised further ire in Washington by giving notice of plans to pull out faster than expected, a move that Bush administration officials said yesterday is complicating military operations in Iraq and could put lives in danger.
Zappie has a timetable. Al-Q says so.
Initially, officials here had expected the withdrawal to start in a month or two and be carefully coordinated with U.S. military commanders in Iraq. But the Pentagon received word earlier this week that about half of Spain's 1,300 troops would be leaving in the next 10 days and the rest within 20 days after that. "We completely respect their political decision to remove their forces, but the way they're doing it is a big disappointment," said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "They did not coordinate with the commanders on the ground. It's causing us to have to scramble to backfill those very important positions. And it could unnecessarily jeopardize operations and lives.

"This is just not the way that allies should treat each other," the official went on. "It's disappointing and it's unprofessional."
It's almost like Zappie is sending a message.
Such unusually blunt and angry language reflected the depth of the official irritation generated by Spain's plan and undercut efforts yesterday by Spain's top diplomat to smooth over the episode.

After talks here with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos denied any new tensions in relations since the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was installed last weekend and announced the troop pullout. "We are looking to the future. The decision to return the troops is a decision of yesterday," Moratinos told reporters. "We have a strong friendship with the United States. And the determination of both administrations is to work together in areas that are the common challenge for all of us -- first and mainly, the fight against terror."
But if your early pull-out causes some of our troops to die, expect our friendship to suffer.
Pentagon officials said the significance of Spain's withdrawal extends beyond the simple loss of its troops. "It's also the fact that the Spanish were the headquarters for some of the other forces," Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday.

To replace the forces, who have been responsible for securing areas in south-central Iraq, U.S. commanders have shifted 1st Armored Division troops who had been based in the vicinity of Baghdad. The division, which had been scheduled to leave Iraq this month after a year of combat duty, had its stay extended by 90 days last week. Britain also may provide a new headquarters unit to take the place of Spain's, a senior U.S. official said.
Once again, the lion roars.

Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-22
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=31169