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| Iraq | |
| Talabani rejects any strike on Syria from Iraq-paper | |
| 2005-11-01 | |
| DUBAI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in remarks published on Tuesday he would oppose the use of Iraqi territory as a launchpad for any U.S. military strike on Syria. "I absolutely reject that Iraqi territory be used as a launchpad for any military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Talabani told Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat. "But this is my personal opinion and my capabilities are limited in confronting America's might ... I cannot impose my opinion on them," he added in an interview. U.S. President George W. Bush said last month that military action would be a last resort to deal with Syria, which Washington accuses of allowing foreign fighters to cross the border into Iraq, where U.S. troops are fighting a blooding insurgency. Talabani, who also heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), had a long-standing alliance with Syria which allowed him to operate from its territory against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Fears of U.S. military action heightened following a U.N. investigation which implicated Syrian officials in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, an opponent of Syrian domination of his country, and 22 others in February. The report said the killing was organized by Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies. The Security Council voted unanimously on Monday for a resolution ordering Syria to cooperate fully with the U.N. investigation or face possible "further action." The resolution warns the council "could consider further action" if Syria does not meet demands in the resolution. Syria denies the charges and says it was conducting its own probe. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 I'd imagine, given developments, that anything leaving the Iranian shore is followed and targetted |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-01 21:31 |
| #10 Shep- My understanding is that there are a couple of sites out in the western Iraqi desert - especially the 'H' bases - that are effectively off limits to the rest of the world. Those are huge places, capable of swallowing wings of B-52s or C-5s. All kinds of ops could be - and probably are - run out of there. As far as the Iranian Kilos, keep something in mind. No matter what weapons they have, there is a drastic difference between Ability and CAPability. The Shkval is a pretty impressive weapon, IF it has a nuclear warhead and IF its supposed performance specs are accurate. (The folks I have talked to say that it is wickedly fast, but not 300 Kt/h.) It is very short ranged - a sub skipper wanting to use one would have to get sucidally close to the CV, which means getting through the most sophisticated ASW defenses on the planet. Then once he launches, something moving that fast is going to make a LOT of noise, pointing right back to the sub. Finally, something going that fast underwater is going to move only in a straight line. Any kind of warning at all gives the target a fighting chance. Mind you, I'm not saying it's impossible - but it's not the kind of threat that some folks would like you to believe. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-11-01 19:41 |
| #9 ...my capabilities are limited in confronting America's might ... I cannot impose my opinion on them. Darn tootin' |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-11-01 16:41 |
| #8 Ehhh they have a big turnover in the gov coming next month Dec 15. I think this is just politics without much substance. Politicians love to blame X for problems or complain or claim to fix this or that. Just look here in the states for reference in 06' or 08' run ups thier will be polititions saying all kinds of crap that the dont plan to back or pursue past the next election. I dont think this is a good way for politics to work but unfortunatley it is how our polititians run things and sure to be spread to Iraq were we are basicly being thier format or rough outline, some good some bad will flow over. All round I think it will work out things will never be perfect but I do beleive our system is the best game in town. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2005-11-01 14:09 |
| #7 "I absolutely reject that Iraqi territory be used as a launchpad for any military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Democracy is its own reward. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-11-01 12:42 |
| #6 theres surly some big old areas of desert that could hide some make-shift refueling stations in Iraq surly? I do not think the Iraqi goverment would refuse a higly covert use of desert airfield s for short amounts of time ie 2 to 5 days and i wouldnt even be so sure as to say they wouldnt let Israeli jets refeul from that kinda airfield. Arabs nations in the past have said nearly always said 'oh no your not launching from here never' but eventually come round to agrements for short term basing or airstrips - i think anyway from memory.. On the subject of Iran anyone know if thier Kilo class subs are ever tracked and also if they do carry that russian torpedo thats a 300knot carrier killer? the one that bleeds air out its nose to create an air cavity around it like when a sub launched ballistic missle is fired so it never touches the water, im sure china have em and wouldn't mind betting the mullahs bought a few too |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2005-11-01 12:08 |
| #5 Is Talibani playing good cop to Bush's bad cop? |
| Posted by: Dave 2005-11-01 11:34 |
| #4 Talabani seems to have no issues with the current cross border operations to disrupt terrorist pipelines. So all hes saying he wouldnt support is a major conventional strike. Which is meaningless, as we almost certainly dont intend such an attack. So he might as well collect some brownie pts in the arab world for opposing something thats unlikely anyway. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2005-11-01 11:33 |
| #3 With some of Talabani remarks concerning the US the last couple of weeks, I'm beginning to wonder if he is our friend. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2005-11-01 11:16 |
| #2 Let Erik do it. |
| Posted by: Phanter Uleretle3513 2005-11-01 10:55 |
| #1 OK...then use Iraq as a blocking force and launch from the Med. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2005-11-01 10:12 |