Let’s think a bit about the Hollow Woman’s claim in this morning’s paper.
Prime Minister Helen Clark has said that if National was in Government Air New Zealand would have been bringing the bodies of New Zealand troops back from Iraq.
Her comments came as she reacted to National’s attempts to make capital over the row about the airline taking Australian troops to the Gulf.
Miss Clark said: “The fun is watching the National Party wallow in it when everyone knows that if they had been in Government, New Zealand would have had troops fighting in Iraq and Air New Zealand would probably be ferrying body bags up and back.”
As everybody knows, New Zealand had contributed troops to Iraq, to rebuild the place. We have also contributed troops to Afghanistan, and Iraq 1.
In Iraq 1, as my memory serves, we contributed a medical team, SAS and a Hercules transport or two.
Herein lies quite a thick layer of irony.
We have not contributed medics this time, meaning that we are not saving lives.
Our SAS are in Afghanistan, so are occupied in “American” wars anyway – one could argue that by doing so we are making more Americans available for Iraq.
So, with the Air New Zealand flights, we are also providing the logistics.
No wonder the PM is angry, we’re not supposed to be there, and all we’ve now done differently than last time is hold back our doctors – on average or contribution is more violent than last time!
But onto this claim of “bodybags”. What a load of tosh.
Our boys usually fight near the Aussies, with the Brits. So it’s fair to assume that the causalities would be proportionate. If we assume that we contribute only, say 1/2 of Australia, that would then mean we get 1/2 of the causalities. Australia has 550 or so, so we’d have about 250.
If we did this, and our casualty rate was the same as our Tasman neighbours, we would have the grand total of 1 body bag being bought home by this point in the war. Hardly the carnage Helen claims a supposed National Party policy would generate.
Yet another lame and desperate attempt by our PM to cover up her own incompetence, only to have it show round the back.
Roll on the election!
Something should go here, maybe later. 
Yes but we DID NOT have combat forces in Iraq!,
Helen Clark is right as usual, Helen has had a lifetime of politics and knows whats happening.
Mr Key is a learner, and we will all suffer becaue of this fact!.
See what we think of National
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