NZ Defence Force is now trespassing in Iraq
NZ Defence Force is now trespassing in Iraq, says peace advocates
Community organisers at
Organise Aotearoa say the New Zealand Defence Force must
fully withdraw from Iraq, following the Iraqi parliament voting to
expel all foreign troops.
Just last week, a United
States drone strike assassinated top Iranian military
official Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil in an attempt to
provoke war with Iran. The US and New Zealand forces have
been occupying Iraq for seventeen years, and there have been
popular uprisings in Iraq recently against continued foreign
interference.
“Remaining New Zealand troops are now
officially trespassing on Iraqi soil,” says Organise
Aotearoa spokesperson Kate McIntyre. “They should never
have been sent to Iraq to begin with, and must be withdrawn
immediately.”
“The New Zealand Defence Force has
not played a neutral or peacekeeping role in US foreign
wars. NZDF personnel have killed civilians as young as three
years old.”
An expose by Nicky Hager in North &
South magazine exposed widespread war crimes and cover-ups
by the NZDF. One of these concerned a medic, who after
killing two children in Afghanistan received a medal of
bravery.
“We will not be dragged into another war in
Iran, Iraq, or anywhere else. These wars have done nothing
but terrorise the people of Central Asia. NZ troops are no
different from US troops in the region.”
“Iraq
deserves peace after three decades of sanctions, war, and
military occupation. Iraq deserves an end to foreign
occupation and
interference.”
ENDS