Ahmadinejad: US should leave Iraq

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday lashed at the United States during an unprecedented trip to Iraq and demanded that major powers leave the region.

Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit Iraq, said the foreign presence in the Arab country was an "insult to the regional nations and a humiliation."

"We believe that the major powers who have come to the region from thousands of kilometers away should respect the will of nations and leave this region. That's the best service they can offer these nations," the hardline Iranian leader told reporters after meeting with Iraq's president.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080303/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_iran

[rodeodance]

1. we should have pulled out long ago. Let Nato take over!!

[independentpiney]

2. better yet let the Iraqis do it with Arab League help n/t

[Ordr]

3. Heh

Lets see how quickly Ahmadinejad tries to annex Iraq once we're out of there.

[Alcibiades]

7. They have no desire to annex Iraq

That would only set them up for a never-ending insurgency situation, much like the quagmire we are in. Yes, Iran and Iraq have seen a major war in the last century, but that war was precipitated by the 1980 Iraqi invasion of Iran, not the other way around. That war really cost both sides, and I don't think there's any stomach on either side for a rematch.

Iran isn't looking to make Iraq into a province, but to have it as a strategic ally and trading partner. Whatever you think of Ahmadinejad, he had a valid point when he said: "Iran has no need to intervene in Iraq. It is friendly to all groups in Iraq. Isn't it ridiculous that those who have deployed 160,000 troops in Iraq accuse us of intervening there?" he said. Who has more advanced equipment in Iraq killing people, Iran or the US? Bush's foolish invasion and even more foolish attempt at the permanent occupation of Iraq has done more to advance the interests of Iran in the region than anything else.

[Ordr]

8. "They have no desire to annex Iraq"

I agree with that. I was mostly joking :). That said, however, I don't exactly think Ahmadinejad had the best interests of Iraq in mind when making those statements.

[Alcibiades]

9. Right-he's pursuing what he thinks Iran's interests are

Which would be a stable, strong Iraq led by his co religionists. Once that's accomplished, Iran and Iraq can together follow a course that will serve to advance Shia interests generally. Not good for Israel or Saudi Arabia. The attempt to occupy Iraq on a permanent basis gives Ahmadinejad a propaganda hammer to use against the US at will.

Of course, the whole premise of Bush's accusations against Iran--that they have no business in intervening in a neighboring nation that shares thousands of years of history with them, whereas we somehow do--is mind-bogglingly absurd.

[classysassy]

10. Bull

we just want the oil.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Should never have been there in the first place.

But George W. bUsh & Faux News Cabal, along with the US "media" (#54 in freedoms of the press...it shows!) were very successful at conning 72% of the gullible American public into believing Iraq did 911.

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, it's embarassing to be agreeing with this guy.

But the correct view is that it was a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, stupid thing to send the military in there at all. Not to mention the really stupid way the whole affair has been administered.

[bdamomma]

6. well * is uniting Iraq and Iran.

:shrug: