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daledo
11th June 2011, 08:25
BAGHDAD (AFP) – A US congressman called on Friday for Iraq to repay a portion of the "mega-dollars" that Washington has spent since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, at a news conference in Baghdad.

Republican representative Dana Rohrabacher's remarks stand in stark contrast to those by senior American officials, including most recently CIA chief Leon Panetta, who has said the United States should seriously consider any Iraqi request for US troops to stay beyond a year-end deadline for their departure.

"Once Iraq becomes a very rich and prosperous country... we would hope that some consideration be given to repaying the United States some of the mega-dollars that we have spent here in the last eight years," Rohrabacher told journalists at the US embassy in Baghdad.

"We were hoping that there would be a consideration of a payback because the United States right now is in close to a very serious economic crisis and we could certainly use some people to care about our situation as we have cared about theirs."

He said he raised the issue in a meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Rohrabacher, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US House of Representatives, declined to give specifics on how much should be paid back, or over what timeframe.

Rohrabacher added that the same principle held for Libya, saying: "If the Libyans for example are willing to help pay, compensate the United States, for what we would spend in helping them through this rough period, that's one way to do it."

"And once Iraq is prosperous... paying back some of the expenditures that we've had helping them establish democracy would be much appreciated," he said.

Around 45,000 American troops are still stationed in Iraq, mostly tasked with training and equipping their Iraqi counterparts.

All US troops must withdraw from the country by the end of the year, according to the terms of a security pact, but US officials have been pressing Baghdad to decide quickly whether or not it wants an extension.

Rohrabacher was leading a bipartisan US congressional delegation on a visit to Iraq, primarily to look into a raid by Iraqi security forces in April on the Ashraf camp housing thousands of exiled Iranians in which at least 35 camp residents died.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110610/wl_mideast_afp/iraquspoliticsdiplomacyfinance_20110610170935

TPTB reps are now wanting to collect for an illegal war. I can see it now... we will need to have another regime change before the Iraqi people think about anything else. More troops to come and a bigger bill that someone needs to pay. The people in Iraq need to stand strong and get the US and everyone else out of there.

daledo
11th June 2011, 08:39
Iraq government says Congress delegation "not welcome"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq said on Friday a visiting Congress delegation was "not welcome" in the country, citing reports its leader called on Baghdad to pay compensation to Washington for years of war since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Iraqi officials said Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher told reporters during a visit on Friday that Baghdad should repay billions of dollars Washington had spent on the Iraq war.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad could not be reached for comment and the congressman's comments could not be confirmed independently.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Rohrabacher's reported comments were "irresponsible."

"Those people are not welcome in Iraq. They are raising a controversial issue which influences the strategic relation between us and the United States," he said.

"They are asking for compensation for the war and we are not committed to pay anything to any of the people who participated in the invasion of Iraq," he told Reuters.

Dabbagh said Rohrabacher had not expressed this opinion when he met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

He added he had called the U.S. embassy in Iraq when he learned of the congressman's comments at the news conference but was told by the embassy that Rohrabacher's statement represented his own opinion and not the official position of the United States.

The Iraqi government irritation at the U.S. congressman's comments came at a time when Iraqi leaders are debating whether to ask U.S. troops in Iraq to stay beyond the deadline for a withdrawal at the end of the year.

Dabbagh said a meeting headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani could be held next week to discuss the sensitive issue of a continued U.S. military presence in the country beyond 2011, among other issues.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama's pick to be the new defense secretary, outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta, said he expected Iraq to eventually ask Washington to keep U.S. troops in the country beyond the year-end.

U.S. forces in Iraq halted combat operations last year and the remaining 47,000 American troops are due to pull out by December 31 under a 2008 bilateral security accord.

While overall violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-2007, Iraqi security forces continue to fight a weakened but still lethal insurgency. Bombings and other attacks occur daily.

The total of U.S. military casualties in Iraq since 2003 stands at 4,459, according to the icasualties.org website.

In the biggest single loss of life since 2009, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a rocket attack on a Baghdad base on Monday and another U.S. soldier was killed in southern Iraq on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110610/wl_nm/us_iraq_usa

Pagan
11th June 2011, 09:05
It's like someone comes uninvited to your house, rapes your wife, kills your children tears the house appart and asks you for money for the favour...

Etherios
11th June 2011, 09:50
It's like someone comes uninvited to your house, rapes your wife, kills your children tears the house appart and asks you for money for the favour...

But but they saved them from bad bad bad Sadam ... they should pay for it with their lives.... oh ... i mean money.

This is how far down the hole USA Gov is ...

Marikins
11th June 2011, 10:34
It's like someone comes uninvited to your house, rapes your wife, kills your children tears the house appart and asks you for money for the favour...

Exactly like that. Well said.

Gustav
11th June 2011, 19:54
And start a scheme that will continue to trickle in money for the US for many hundreds of years to come.. that will be helping in spreading peace and democracy around the world...

stegosaur
11th June 2011, 21:09
Terrorists (if there are actually any) hate America because 'of our freedoms' but definitely not because of stuff like this.


Ubersarcasm included

MargueriteBee
11th June 2011, 21:31
Just another way to stir up stuff and get people angry so they can feed on the negative energy, that's all it is.