zaway
Aug 6, 2004
WASHINGTON, Aug 05, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) — Insider
notes from United Press International for Aug. 5:
Since March the Bush administration has frantically tried to keep “coalition
of the willing” members from voting with their feet and leaving Iraq. Now a
new nation may be preparing to send troops to the strife-ridden country.
According to reports in the local press, Armenia may be readying to send
troops to Iraq. The Armenian government has approved the decision by the
country’s Defense Ministry supporting the memorandum, “On commanding and
regulating the work of the multi-national stabilization force in Iraq.”
Armenia had earlier announced that it was ready to send trucks, 10 field
engineers and three military doctors to Iraq. The decision is not popular
with sections of Armenian society; the Armenian Communist Party called the
decision “an anti-Armenian step, endangering not only the lives and security
of dozens of our specialists, but also the large Armenian community in a
country we are in friendly relations with;” the secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia, Ruben Tovmasyan, labeled the
decision “immoral.” Cynics looking for cause and effect might note that
President George W. Bush recently selected Armenia as a potential recipient
of assistance from the Millennium Challenge Account, a new bilateral
development program established in 2002 as a new channel for development
assistance.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.