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| Europe |
| US ends military occupation of Iceland |
| 2006-03-17 |
| The United States, which has long provided Iceland with its only military forces, has decided to withdraw most of its service members and all of its fighter jets and helicopters from the country later this year, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday. Iceland's government, which recently had offered to take over some of the cost of its defense from the United States to keep U.S. forces here, said it regretted the decision. In an interview with The Associated Press, U.S. Ambassador Carol van Voorst said she and Nicholas Burns, the U.S. under secretary of state, had informed Iceland's Prime Minister Haldor Asgrimsson and Foreign Minister Geir H. Haarde of the unilateral decision on Wednesday. But Washington also said it would continue to honor its 1951 agreement with Iceland requiring the United States, under the auspices of NATO, to provide this country's defense. U.S. and Icelandic officials were to hold talks about how that will be done, Van Voorst said. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #26 Autrey's Armory, Fayetteville, Ga. |
| Posted by: Anginert Gleaque1289 2006-03-17 21:32 |
| #25 I loved Iceland. And juuuusssst slightly off topic; anyone got a good trigger smith for Sig 229 and 239? |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2006-03-17 21:29 |
| #24 Another victory for Al Qaida. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-03-17 19:58 |
| #23 Sefarious : Icelandic Civil War Watch in þrÃr...tveir...einn What? Blondes vs Redheads... No bleach or henna necessary! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2006-03-17 17:58 |
| #22 There goes their economy. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-03-17 17:32 |
| #21 You know, the last time Iceland was invaded by hostile forces *was* by Muslims, Barbary pirates raided Reykjavik for slaves in 1627. So you never can tell with those jihadis. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2006-03-17 14:54 |
| #20 BA, Hindu Kush means killer of Hindus, I believe. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2006-03-17 14:22 |
| #19 Icelandic Civil War Watch in þrÃr...tveir...einn |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-03-17 13:57 |
| #18 lol, Dread. I thought the same thing immediately (IAQ - It's a Quagmire) when I read the headline. Of course, I don't see it as an occupation, more like a lil' help between friends, but hey, who am I to judge. Of course, there's gotta be a way to pin it to Bush and Halliburton....do they have a melting ice/drinking water plant there (Halliburton that is)? |
| Posted by: BA 2006-03-17 13:47 |
| #17 I, for one, am glad that the incompetent and dithering Bush Administration finally discovered a workable exit strategy from the quagmire that was Iceland. I mean, geez, how long were we there? 65 years! Enough's enough! |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2006-03-17 12:56 |
| #16 ...A slightly dissenting viewpoint - the Icelanders were never really all that happy about us being there. They were always polite, without question, and they welcomed the money that our presence brought. But IIRC there has for many years now been a curfew for Americans only. Nothing much ever gets said because Iceland was so crucial during the Cold War, but I suspect there will be few tears among the populace at large...until, of course, the taxes start going up. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-03-17 11:47 |
| #15 You mean the good people of Iceland will have to do more than drink and have hot sex now? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-03-17 10:50 |
| #14 I didn't know it was an ocupation, I thought we just had some bases there. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-03-17 10:47 |
| #13 Mr. Skagfields gonna be unhappy. He runs the Icelandic Counselar office in TLH, when he's not busy moving superior drapery. Nope, not kidding. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-03-17 10:33 |
| #12 Good comments all. Points well taken, especially about the muslims in the Hindu Kush. Of course, I gotta wonder when that mountain range will be renamed...Muslim Kush has a nice ring to it, lol. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-03-17 10:04 |
| #11 the mental image of jihadis invading ICEland, when they're used to 110 degrees in the shade True for Saudi types, maybe not so true for, say, Pashtuns from the Hindu Kush (i.e. the mountains of Afghanistan) ... Or maybe for Euro converts. Just sayin' |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-03-17 09:56 |
| #10 Well, they did try to survive the Brutal Afghan Winter®. But the Americans got better cold weather gear from al-al-Bean. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-03-17 09:38 |
| #9 Another victory by the resistance over the zionist entity's Big Satan. After Shebaa falls, a transfer of the mujahadeen - replete with wool turbins - to Iceland will occur. Insh'allah! |
| Posted by: borgboy 2006-03-17 09:35 |
| #8 PJ, probably most of us here know about that, but the mental image of jihadis invading ICEland, when they're used to 110 degrees in the shade, makes me ROFLMAO (to quote the great, mighty Just Curious/Gentle/troll). |
| Posted by: BA 2006-03-17 09:31 |
| #7 No ones going to invade Iceland Roosevelt The action was taken because - The occupation of Iceland by Germany* would constitute a serious threat in three dimensions: The threat against Greenland and the northern portion of the North American Continent, including the Islands which lie off it. The threat against all shipping in the north Atlantic. The threat against the steady flow of munitions to Britain-which is a matter of broad policy clearly approved by the Congress. Obviously phil_b, you've never read Red Storm Rising. :) * its not like the Germans had a clandestine weapons of mass destruction program going. Oh, wait.... |
| Posted by: Pheting Jitle5260 2006-03-17 09:28 |
| #6 heh most of us are. *smacks motherboard* |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-17 01:29 |
| #5 I'm starting to think that JM is an AI. Smacks his head. "of course." |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-03-17 01:01 |
| #4 I'm starting to think that JM is an AI. Not that there's anything wrong with that... |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2006-03-17 00:33 |
| #3 Too bad - however, with Canada re-exerting itself over the Artic, and given US-NATO's domination in GPS-SPAWAR and anti-sub tech, the USA doesn't need Iceland anymore except as a NORATLANT fallback base, in case the [French]props keep falling off the new Franco-Brit CVF. Iceland should prob make some type of major diplo-econ rapproachement/rapport wid Greenland and the Canucks, like the Aussies and New Zealanders. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-03-17 00:22 |
| #2 No ones going to invade Iceland. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-03-17 00:10 |
| #1 thats a shame.. hey good folks in Iceland. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-17 00:06 |