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| Iraq |
| Tonga to send troops to Iraq |
| 2007-08-17 |
| A contingent of troops from the tiny Pacific kingdom of Tonga will leave on Saturday for a six-month deployment in Iraq. Captain Toni Fonokalafi, who will lead the 55 soldiers, said Wednesday that the Tongan troops will be based at Camp Victory in Baghdad. The contingent is the second to be sent from Tonga, which has a population of 110,000 and a military numbering about 450 troops. After two weeks in the United States for training, the Tongan troops will leave for the Middle East on September 1, Fonokalafi said. They will mostly provide security at Camp Victory, which is situated near Baghdad's airport. The first six-month deployment of Tongan troops to Iraq took place in mid-2004 and a final rotation is due next year. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #22 I know why I see this war as different, but why do they? A bunch of possible reasons: - wanting to get on Uncle Sam's good side - practice operating with US or NATO forces - for a lot of the eastern bloc countries, I think their experience with the fUSSR has given them the ability to recognize totalitarianism when they see it. I'm kinda sorta hoping the last one is the significant one for most. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-17 23:55 |
| #21 What's interesting to me is that in this war a great many of the smaller countries have sent fighting contingents, not to mention a lot of the medium sized countries like Korea and Japan. I'm under the impression that historically such countries have tried to stay as uninvolved as possible, except for earning money on UN peacekeeping missions. I know why I see this war as different, but why do they? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-08-17 21:59 |
| #20 Some countries "get it", others don't. Most of the world is going to have to deal with muslims in the near future. They sooner they learn the best way to deal with them, the better. Tonga gets it, Britain doesn't. The French don't have a clue, while the Japanese want to pick up the knowledge on the cheap. I'm not sure what the Germans are up to. Most of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact have a dual commitment: to learn how to deal with muslims face-to-face, and how to build and maintain a quality armed force with combat experience. The Australians, with Indonesia as a close neighbor (and thorn in the side) are learning how to deal with muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Timor. The knowledge will come in handy when they have their own internal muslim problems. Fiji is the Pacific nation that needs the experience the most, but unfortunately are currently tied up with internal problems. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-08-17 13:35 |
| #19 And here, a video of the All Black's haka with a Tongan team's sipu tao in response. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-17 12:02 |
| #18 Video of the All Black haka |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-17 11:53 |
| #17 Thanks NOLA....but as you can see from other comments, it's not always about who's bigger. Just as important, is who's at risk, and who can benefit most. That's why saying that "they just gave away 10% of their military" shows a lack of a basic understanding of what such a mission accomplishes. Again, it's a motivation thingy. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2007-08-17 11:53 |
| #16 |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-08-17 10:47 |
| #15 Rugby, JFM? You are full of surprises. :-) Just as supporter. I grew in Spain and they don't play rugby there. But I am a big All Black supporter: when my daughters were still babies I used to sing them the hakka. They both found it very funny. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-08-17 10:39 |
| #14 Great comment, lotp. While I somewhat snickered originally at their small contingent, I'm sure we'll be fighting side-by-side in years to come. Plus, they get the additional training to use back home in case the *need* ever arises they'd have to use it. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-08-17 09:15 |
| #13 While it's sort of useful to list Tonga as a coalition member, in order to shame countries like Germany into contributing, what's really important here is that we are giving friendly armed forces some combat & SASO hands on experience. I have a feeling they and we are going to need those skills for some time to come. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-17 08:45 |
| #12 England in the 95 RWC remembers Lomu |
| Posted by: Beavis 2007-08-17 08:44 |
| #11 Let them do do their version of the haka before their missions. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-08-17 08:41 |
| #10 Kinda like the Texas Rangers: "Sure we only sent one Ranger. There was only one riot!" How many major cities in Iraq? |
| Posted by: Fred 2007-08-17 08:07 |
| #9 I have nothin against Tongas, they could break me in half without even breathing heaving, but 55 of them in a war zone without hand to hand combat? I get that every little bit helps, but when your whole army is 450 people and your country is 110k, maybe we need to find "bigger" friends, at least in population terms. Not too sure about the juror of motivations part. I'm sure their motivations are great. They just gave away more than 10% of their military which would be awesome, if they had more military. Just looking at the numbers..... |
| Posted by: NOLA 2007-08-17 06:41 |
| #8 Jonah Lomu was from Tongian ascendency. Rugby, JFM? You are full of surprises. :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-08-17 05:35 |
| #7 I'd really like to see you face to face with a Tongan and repeat that...I really would. I would really like to see NOLA after he had talked with the Tongan. :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-08-17 04:27 |
| #6 NOLA...WTF? Yappies? Do you know any Tongans? Who made you the juror of their motivations? I'd really like to see you face to face with a Tongan and repeat that...I really would. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2007-08-17 03:01 |
| #5 Who next, Micronesia? They could prob'ly spare 20 Yappies or so. |
| Posted by: NOLA 2007-08-17 02:46 |
| #4 Jonah Lomu was from Tongian ascendency. People who confronted him still have nihtmares. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-08-17 01:49 |
| #3 I once had the honour of attenduing his royal highness majesty, THE KING OF TONGA. at, of all places....Hayden Lake, Idaho He is THE MAN! |
| Posted by: Pheaper Sinatra3986 2007-08-17 01:35 |
| #2 perfect guys for this, they're massive and very intimidating and thats just the civilians, brave and steadfast. good on ya..... |
| Posted by: Pheaper Sinatra3986 2007-08-17 01:33 |
| #1 Man I had to look on the map to see where the Pacific kingdom of Tonga was. That's great, now if we can only get more countries to pitch in and help out. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-08-17 01:21 |