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Iraq: will Ukraine pull out? « Thread Started on May 19, 200

Daily newsbrief journal for May 2004, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


Iraq: will Ukraine pull out? « Thread Started on May 19, 200

Postby admin » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:53 am

Iraq: will Ukraine pull out? « Thread Started on May 19, 2004, 2:42am »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Iraq: will Ukraine pull out?Ukraine's commitment to maintain its 1,700-strong contingent in Iraq, the fourth largest deployment within the US-led Coalition, is weakening. Coming so soon after the new Spanish government announced its determination to withdraw its forces, JID assesses the implications, should Kiev follow suit.Ukraine's forces are based in the Polish-led south-central zone of Iraq and are drawn from three battalions of the 6th Separate Mechanised Brigade. JID's sources in Ukraine are warning that this commitment is set to come under increasing pressure as the October presidential election approaches. Incumbent President Leonid Kuchma backed the sending of the contingent to Iraq and instructed his allies in parliament to support the decision.However, Kuchma's pro-Washington policies are largely a facade. He remains convinced that the so-called 'Kuchmagate' scandal that arose from the illicit taping of his office was a US-orchestrated conspiracy. The head of the presidential administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, is as deeply suspicious of the USA's agenda as is Kuchma himself. Medvedchuk's Social Democratic Party United (SDPU) regularly competes with the Communist party in anti-US rhetoric in the media.Kuchma's commitment to the Bush administration's Iraq policy is not based upon ideological support, as it is in the case of other former communist states such as Poland. Instead, the president is hoping that the deployment of Ukrainian troops will improve his relations with Washington following a marked decline in 2001/02 owing to the Kuchmagate crisis, in addition to Kuchma's authorisation of the alleged sale of the Kolchuga mobile radar system to Saddam Hussein. And then there is the small matter of Ukraine's sale of weapons to Macedonia during its civil conflict.Meanwhile, the president's domestic troubles are escalating. His parliamentary majority is increasingly in doubt. Recent votes have shown that he can count on the support of around 200 loyalists out of 450 deputies. This is expected to decline further amid more defections to the popular opposition presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, in the run up to the elections. http://www.janes.com/security/internati ... _1_n.shtml
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