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| Iraq |
| U.S. to back Kurd assault on Ansar base |
| 2003-02-10 |
| Kurdish leaders have gained White House backing for a strike on the Ansar Al Islam enclave in northern Iraq, which has been allegedly identified by America as the link between Saddam Hussain and Al Qaida terrorists. Jalal Talabani, the leader of the eastern half of Kurdish territory, was promised military backing for an attack during meetings with Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. President George Bush's special envoy to the Iraqi opposition, in Ankara last week. "Kurds and America cannot wait for ever to get rid of Ansar Al Islam," said Talabani in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph. "We know that they commit crimes and use the mountain camps to grow stronger as a terrorist group. They have fundamentalist Kurds from Iran, and Arabs from Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Syria. We need American help to stop their activities." Works for me, what's your plan? Under the agreement struck in Ankara, the valley infiltrated by an estimated 2,000 radical Islamic fighters will be one of the first targets in any U.S. attack. It will come under aerial assault before Talabani's Kurdish militia are ordered in. A Kurdish official said that his group was supplying information on targets for American F16 aircraft and B2 bombers based in Turkey. Talabani's aides said that Special Forces snipers were among "dozens" of U.S. personnel scouting positions ahead of the assault on the valley. SF acts as ground controllers, airstrikes chop up their defenses, then the Kurds go in to finish them off. Sounds good. The tiny enclave run on strict Islamic lines by Ansar Al Islam in the Shineray mountains has allegedly become a haven for Al Qaida fighters who fled Afghanistan. Figured that this would be on our "to-do" list. It will keep the Kurds busy, and that's a good thing. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 I'm hoping that this time, when they scatter they're not intact, if y'know what I mean... |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-10 14:31:42 |
| #2 Perhaps we were waiting until we had some methods in place for catching them when they scatter again? I'm willing to bet there are some we are looking for in that bunch. |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2003-02-10 12:21:05 |
| #1 Bush rejected a call for U.S. assistance against Ansar last August. I don't think the full assessment was in by then, or maybe he just wants to take this thorn out of the Kurdish side before the real festivities commence. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-10 11:11:26 |