Word: chac
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...press conference held Monday at the Spanish naval base of Rota, Chacón denied any mistakes in the Kosovo incident and emphasized that the decision to withdraw was "intractable...
...should be the result of a decision within the Alliance," he said through a spokeswoman. U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood went further, saying, "We are deeply disappointed by this decision taken by Spain." Coming almost exactly five years after Zapatero's decision to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq, Chacón's announcement has led some foreign commentators to portray the Spanish government as an unreliable ally, while domestic critics, such as opposition leader Mariano Rajoy, worry that the damage done to Spain's international reputation is "incalculable." (See pictures of the Spanish protesting fuel prices...
...March 19, Chacón told Spanish soldiers at a base in Istok that they and the rest of Spain's more than 600 troops who have formed part of the NATO peacekeeping forces (KFOR) in Kosovo since 1999 had finished their work. Once Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia last year, Spain has been looking for a way out - in part because Spaniards don't recognize an independent Kosovo and also because they have their own separatist issues to deal with at home, in the form of Basque and Catalan nationalism. "The mission has been completed...
...Other places like, say, Afghanistan. At the NATO meeting, Obama is widely expected to ask for more European assistance in Afghanistan, and Chacón herself, who in December lifted Spain's 3,000-person ceiling on troops abroad, has made it clear she is open to the request. (Vote for the 2009 TIME 100 Finalists...
...wake of the firestorm provoked by Chacón's announcement last week, the Spanish government has attempted to recover from its bungle. Although the minister originally announced that Spanish troops would be home by August, Zapatero's office has since adjusted that estimate, emphasizing that the withdrawal will be gradual, and may take as long as 18 months. Bernardino León, secretary general of the office of the Prime Minister, who was sent to Washington on Friday in an attempt to smooth things over, recognized that the State Department's reaction "could have been avoided" if Spain...