Cyprus-Forum.com

[Chimera]

So, how much is the U.K. paying for it's fine strategic position?

Don't get me wrong, I am okay with their presence.

Better the devil you know, and all that.

[Southerner]

So, how much is the U.K. paying for it's fine strategic position? Don't get me wrong, I am okay with their presence.
Better the devil you know, and all that.

That is something I don't know so I won't hazard a guess or say something silly like they can't afford the rent.
The SBAs are unique with their own police etc, they were not forced on the Cypriots as some would imply and for many years were the mainstay of the Cyprus economy but today they are very much depleted in man/woman power.

[dinos]

American humour? They had that gene removed. (Have you watched FRIENDS?????)

Friends?!? OMG - have you ever seen "According to Jim?"

[miltiades]

Perhaps the reason the U.K. supported the invasion in 1974 (sitting back was effectively supporting) by Turkey, was that they were hoping to
"bury the bad news" that they couldn't pay the rent for their bases.

The ONLY nation responsible for the Turkish invasion was Greece along with the fanatics of EOKA B and actively encouraged by the ENOSIS brigade who saw the T/Cs as nothing more than vermin . The Cypriots who felt otherwise , such as my self , were silenced. Unless they followed the preconceived nonsense , such as the divide and rule bullshit , you became a traitor .All of our shortcomings were placed on the Brits and the Americans , hence the commonly used phrase "AmericanFinger "
We , the Cypriots ARE the victims of our own short sightedness.

As far as the Brits not paying rent for the use of Cypriot land as bases , here I agree that it is about time that they begun , the British government , addressing this problem.

[miltiades]

HERE ARE THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE IRAQI CONFLICT , THE PEOPLE WHO WILL KILL AND MAIM INDISCREMINATELY , THE SAVAGES.
At least 28 killed in Iraq suicide attack
Bomber drove truck into residential area of crowded Shiite neighborhood in Tal Afar

By Hamid Ahmed | The Associated Press
9:54 AM EDT, August 6, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber slammed his truck into a densely populated residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar today, killing at least 28 people, including 19 children, local authorities said.

The attack occurred in a crowded Shiite neighborhood of the religiously mixed city, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The powerful blast caused houses to collapse in the morning as many families were getting ready for the day ahead, and officials said the death toll could rise.


Studies: Suicide bombers in Iraq are mostly foreigners
(McClatchy Newspapers)
Updated: 2007-08-09 07:34

AND HERE ARE THE "DIVIDE AND RULE" PROTAGONISTS , HOPING TO ENTER PARADISE AS MARTYRS !!
WASHINGTON － Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded.


The studies report that the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has now surpassed those conducted worldwide since the early 1980s. The findings suggest that extremists from throughout the region and around the world are fueling Iraq's violence.


"The war on terrorism－ and certainly the war in Iraq － has failed in decreasing the number of suicide attacks and has really radicalized the Muslim world to create this concept of martyrs without borders," said Mohammed Hafez , a visiting professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the author of one of the two studies.


Hafez, whose new book is "Suicide Bombers in Iraq ," has identified the nationalities of 124 bombers who attacked in Iraq . Of those, the largest number－ 53－ were Saudis. Eight apiece came from Italy and Syria , seven from Kuwait , four from Jordan and two each from Belgium , France and Spain . Others came from North and East Africa , South Asia and various Middle Eastern and European countries. Only 18－ 15 percent－ were Iraqis.


In the second study, Robert Pape , a University of Chicago professor who runs the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, identified the nationalities of 55 suicide bombers in Iraq . Sixteen were Saudis, seven were Syrians and five were Algerians. Kuwait , Morocco and Tunisia each supplied three bombers. Thirteen－ 24 percent－ were Iraqi Sunni Muslims.


Hafez and Pape said Iraqi Shiite Muslims hadn't carried out suicide attacks so far and instead had restricted their role in the sectarian violence to militia activity.


Pinning down the nationalities of suicide bombers can be tricky because they leave few physical remains, and extremist groups often don't claim the attacks until much later. The U.S. military says it does some DNA testing to investigate the bombers' identities.


Both researchers relied on extremist Web sites, "martyr" videos, news reports and statements to compile the data on nationalities. Hafez also gathered some information from online chats and discussion forums.


U.S. intelligence estimates based on interviews with detainees and captured documents indicate that most suicide bombers in Iraq are non-Iraqi, said a senior defense official who can't be named because of departmental rules


Suicide attacks more than doubled each year from the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to 2005, Pape said. In 2006, he said, they jumped just under a third. The American military has reported more than 1,400 since January 2004 . Before the U.S.-led invasion, there had been no suicide bombings in Iraq .


Pape attributed the attacks to the presence of some 150,000 American troops in the region.


The notion that most of the suicide bombers are foreigners engaged in a global movement is exaggerated, he said, since about 75 percent come from the Arabian Peninsula, which is close to the U.S. forces in Iraq .


"The Arabian Peninsula isn't that big: It's somewhat bigger than Texas ," Pape said. "The Americans have all the capability and are right there. That's what allows terrorist leaders to build a sense of urgency."


After losing safe havens in Afghanistan , Pakistan and Europe , militant organizations needed a new base for their operations, Hafez said. U.S. intelligence analysts, however, have concluded that al Qaida has built new training camps along the Afghan-Pakistani border, and that the group al Qaida in Iraq operates for the most part independently.


According to Hafez, extremist groups in Iraq conduct suicide bombings against fellow Muslims rather than U.S. troops to destabilize the fledgling government and spark sectarian warfare.


The groups' objectives in Iraq are different from "other places like in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or in Lebanon ," he said.


In Lebanon , Shiite suicide bombers helped drive U.S., British, French, Italian and Israeli troops out of the country with a series of attacks. Sunni Palestinian suicide bombers have attacked in Israel and the Palestinian territories in an effort to loosen Israel's grip on what they say are Arab lands.


There's widespread agreement that Saudis are represented more heavily than any other nationality among the bombers, said Assaf Moghadem, a research fellow at Harvard University who studies suicide bombers' motivations. Insurgent groups sometimes recruit Saudis because of their relative prosperity, he said.


The ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam that's prevalent in Saudi Arabia also accounts for the large number of Saudis who participate in suicide bombings and the insurgency in Iraq , said Mike Davis , a University of California at Irvine professor who wrote a recent history of car bombs.


"The religious current in modern Islam that encourages this kind of sectarian attitude toward the Shiites is the religious orthodoxy enshrined in Saudi Arabia ," Davis said.


Most experts say that while the American presence in Iraq has radicalized Muslims, withdrawing the troops may not stem the number of suicide attacks, at least not right away.


Extremist groups in Iraq have a common goal of expelling foreign occupiers and destabilizing what they see as a U.S.-controlled government, Pape said. But if the U.S. withdraws, insurgent organizations probably will engage in a bloody power struggle, he added.


"If we stay, that tends to encourage people to flock to Iraq ," Hafez said. "Leaving will mean genocidal violence for the Iraqi people. It will mean a failed Iraqi state. The jihadists will declare, `We drove out America.' "

[alexISS]

The ONLY nation responsible for the Turkish invasion was Greece along with the fanatics of EOKA B and actively encouraged by the ENOSIS brigade who saw the T/Cs as nothing more than vermin

So you blame the Greek nation, not government.
The EOKA B fanatics, as a percentage of the Cypriot population, were much, much more than the Juntics in Greece. The junta was acting against the will of the Greek people, but EOKA B was quite popular in Cyprus. So if you HAVE to blame a nation for the invasion, count the numbers first.

[Eliko]

HERE ARE THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE IRAQI CONFLICT , THE PEOPLE WHO WILL KILL AND MAIM INDISCREMINATELY , THE SAVAGES.
At least 28 killed in Iraq suicide attack
Bomber drove truck into residential area of crowded Shiite neighborhood in Tal Afar

By Hamid Ahmed | The Associated Press
9:54 AM EDT, August 6, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber slammed his truck into a densely populated residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar today, killing at least 28 people, including 19 children, local authorities said.

The attack occurred in a crowded Shiite neighborhood of the religiously mixed city, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The powerful blast caused houses to collapse in the morning as many families were getting ready for the day ahead, and officials said the death toll could rise.


Studies: Suicide bombers in Iraq are mostly foreigners
(McClatchy Newspapers)
Updated: 2007-08-09 07:34

AND HERE ARE THE "DIVIDE AND RULE" PROTAGONISTS , HOPING TO ENTER PARADISE AS MARTYRS !!
WASHINGTON － Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded.


The studies report that the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has now surpassed those conducted worldwide since the early 1980s. The findings suggest that extremists from throughout the region and around the world are fueling Iraq's violence.


"The war on terrorism－ and certainly the war in Iraq － has failed in decreasing the number of suicide attacks and has really radicalized the Muslim world to create this concept of martyrs without borders," said Mohammed Hafez , a visiting professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the author of one of the two studies.


Hafez, whose new book is "Suicide Bombers in Iraq ," has identified the nationalities of 124 bombers who attacked in Iraq . Of those, the largest number－ 53－ were Saudis. Eight apiece came from Italy and Syria , seven from Kuwait , four from Jordan and two each from Belgium , France and Spain . Others came from North and East Africa , South Asia and various Middle Eastern and European countries. Only 18－ 15 percent－ were Iraqis.


In the second study, Robert Pape , a University of Chicago professor who runs the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, identified the nationalities of 55 suicide bombers in Iraq . Sixteen were Saudis, seven were Syrians and five were Algerians. Kuwait , Morocco and Tunisia each supplied three bombers. Thirteen－ 24 percent－ were Iraqi Sunni Muslims.


Hafez and Pape said Iraqi Shiite Muslims hadn't carried out suicide attacks so far and instead had restricted their role in the sectarian violence to militia activity.


Pinning down the nationalities of suicide bombers can be tricky because they leave few physical remains, and extremist groups often don't claim the attacks until much later. The U.S. military says it does some DNA testing to investigate the bombers' identities.


Both researchers relied on extremist Web sites, "martyr" videos, news reports and statements to compile the data on nationalities. Hafez also gathered some information from online chats and discussion forums.


U.S. intelligence estimates based on interviews with detainees and captured documents indicate that most suicide bombers in Iraq are non-Iraqi, said a senior defense official who can't be named because of departmental rules


Suicide attacks more than doubled each year from the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to 2005, Pape said. In 2006, he said, they jumped just under a third. The American military has reported more than 1,400 since January 2004 . Before the U.S.-led invasion, there had been no suicide bombings in Iraq .


Pape attributed the attacks to the presence of some 150,000 American troops in the region.


The notion that most of the suicide bombers are foreigners engaged in a global movement is exaggerated, he said, since about 75 percent come from the Arabian Peninsula, which is close to the U.S. forces in Iraq .


"The Arabian Peninsula isn't that big: It's somewhat bigger than Texas ," Pape said. "The Americans have all the capability and are right there. That's what allows terrorist leaders to build a sense of urgency."


After losing safe havens in Afghanistan , Pakistan and Europe , militant organizations needed a new base for their operations, Hafez said. U.S. intelligence analysts, however, have concluded that al Qaida has built new training camps along the Afghan-Pakistani border, and that the group al Qaida in Iraq operates for the most part independently.


According to Hafez, extremist groups in Iraq conduct suicide bombings against fellow Muslims rather than U.S. troops to destabilize the fledgling government and spark sectarian warfare.


The groups' objectives in Iraq are different from "other places like in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or in Lebanon ," he said.


In Lebanon , Shiite suicide bombers helped drive U.S., British, French, Italian and Israeli troops out of the country with a series of attacks. Sunni Palestinian suicide bombers have attacked in Israel and the Palestinian territories in an effort to loosen Israel's grip on what they say are Arab lands.


There's widespread agreement that Saudis are represented more heavily than any other nationality among the bombers, said Assaf Moghadem, a research fellow at Harvard University who studies suicide bombers' motivations. Insurgent groups sometimes recruit Saudis because of their relative prosperity, he said.


The ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam that's prevalent in Saudi Arabia also accounts for the large number of Saudis who participate in suicide bombings and the insurgency in Iraq , said Mike Davis , a University of California at Irvine professor who wrote a recent history of car bombs.


"The religious current in modern Islam that encourages this kind of sectarian attitude toward the Shiites is the religious orthodoxy enshrined in Saudi Arabia ," Davis said.


Most experts say that while the American presence in Iraq has radicalized Muslims, withdrawing the troops may not stem the number of suicide attacks, at least not right away.


Extremist groups in Iraq have a common goal of expelling foreign occupiers and destabilizing what they see as a U.S.-controlled government, Pape said. But if the U.S. withdraws, insurgent organizations probably will engage in a bloody power struggle, he added.


"If we stay, that tends to encourage people to flock to Iraq ," Hafez said. "Leaving will mean genocidal violence for the Iraqi people. It will mean a failed Iraqi state. The jihadists will declare, `We drove out America.' "

miltiades, ALL the above is of no consequence as far as the struggle in Iraq is concerned.

What you have highlighted is the situation as it is NOW.

What we should concern ourselves with is, HOW did the country become embroiled in such horrific activities ?.

The answer to THAT question is perfectly obvious, the unlawful attack, invasion and occupation of the country by the US and Co.

Every death, howsoever caused, subsequent to the unlawful aggression MUST be attributed to it, since the situation did not exist PRIOR to such.

SURELY, you cannot disagree with that

[Southerner]

[Every death, howsoever caused, subsequent to the unlawful aggression MUST be attributed to it, since the situation did not exist PRIOR to such. SURELY, you cannot disagree with that

Talk about double standars, you take the biscuit.

So according to you Iraq was a peaceful utopia prior to the war with Iran.

The invasion of Kuwait the slaughter of the Kurds, the slaughter of the Marsh Arabs scud missiles fired over Jordan/Syria into Israel, chemical weapons used on their own people.

According to your mentality people serenly strolled the streets living on Ambrosia and drinking Nectar before the wicked west changed things.

To make matters even worse you then say that nobody has the right to criticise the actions of Iraqs leader at that time, who was the perpetrater of these heinous crimes.
The true criminals in the current problems are the Iranians and the Syrians.

[Eliko]

Southerner, we ALL know of the events PRIOR to the unlawful attack on Iraq, we ALL condemn them and I am sure I don't know of anyone who doesn't.

The issue we are concerned with is 'what is happening in Iraq currently and what is the reason' for it.

Can you submit an opinion on THAT issue ?, do you think the US forces were justified in the slaughter of the innocents which took place ?, do you agree that it was unlawful ?, Those are the matters which concern me personally.

What transpired in Iraq in the days of Saddam Hussein's reign is not relevant to this discussion.

We ALL have access to the newspapers and are fully aware of historical events.

I would respectfully ask you to desist in your personal attacks on my character, they are quite insulting and you may find yourself regretting them eventually.

[Southerner]

Southerner, we ALL know of the events PRIOR to the unlawful attack on Iraq, we ALL condemn them and I am sure I don't know of anyone who doesn't.

The issue we are concerned with is 'what is happening in Iraq currently and what is the reason' for it.

Can you submit an opinion on THAT issue ?, do you think the US forces were justified in the slaughter of the innocents which took place ?, do you agree that it was unlawful ?, Those are the matters which concern me personally.

What transpired in Iraq in the days of Saddam Hussein's reign is not relevant to this discussion.

We ALL have access to the newspapers and are fully aware of historical events.

I would respectfully ask you to desist in your personal attacks on my character, they are quite insulting and you may find yourself regretting them eventually.

Once again you contradict yourself, previously you said that no one had the right to critcise the ruling powers of a country saying it was their business what they did, therefore you didn't condem them' and you can't condem in retrospect that is double standards as you knew what was going on at the time.

To claim as you do that the violence taking place in Iraq today is all down to the coalition is an insult to all the mass murdered people who met their horrible fate under Saddam's regime, a man convicted for crimes against humanity, these crimes were mainly against his own people.

If any blame lies with the west it is that they didn't get rid of him in the first conflict, secondly as Tony Blair wanted they should have kept the existing army under stict supervision to police the country, it worked in South east Asia after the second world war.

While ever you place critical posts that repeatadly blame/critcise the west for all the worlds problems I will respond especialy the tripe about all the problems in Cyprus being down to the UK.

It would show a balanced frame of mind if you put equal blame on the former Soviet Block for all the unrest that they caused around the world instead of constantly sniping at the wicked evil west!