In remarks that could prove troublesome for President Hipolito Mejia’s shaky administration, a top U.S. official said Dominican troops were expected to stay in Iraq for eight months longer.
| I didn't even know DR had troops there... |
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega said Wednesday that the Dominican troops would stay until August - a claim that contradicted Dominican assertions that troops would be home by February. "President (Hipolito) Mejia said they would be in Iraq a whole year and we expect them to be there," said Noriega, who was on a visit to the Spanish-speaking country to discuss the nation’s economic crisis. Noriega’s statement could cause problems for Mejia, who is already suffering in opinion polls as he tries for re-election in May. Dominican Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said last week the country’s 302 troops would come home in February and they were not likely to be replaced. Rafael Peralta, a spokesman for Mejia, reiterated the promise on Wednesday.
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
Dozens of editorials have derided Mejia for getting involved in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, arguing that the so-called war on terror is not the Dominican Republic’s business.
| Not until something blows up, anyway... |
Two minor attacks on Dominican troops, in which no one was injured, have also stirred rumors of fatalities and have fueled front page stories. Demonstrations have already erupted on the neighboring island of Puerto Rico, with increasing numbers of islanders demanding that the American troops of Puerto Rican ancestry Puerto Rican troops be returned to the Spanish-speaking U.S. territory. More than 1,000 Puerto Rican troops are serving in the Middle East and at least 11 have been killed in Iraq.
When/if PR becomes independent, they can call them "Puerto Rican troops". Til then they’re Americans, dammit. |