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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Russia Agrees to Send Troops to Iraq |
| 2004-11-18 |
| Russia has agreed to send a small number of troops to Iraq to protect oil wells and support the U.S.-led military campaign there, an aide in the Bush administration has said. The Russian Kommersant-Vlast magazine spoke with the aide on conditions of anonymity, and he said that he had heard the information at a recent meeting in the White House. The meeting mentioned by the source was held in the wake of a report released by the CIA alleging that Iraq had circumvented sanctions against it through loopholes in UN's oil for food program, and apparently sold off millions of dollars in oil to Russian politicians and businessmen. Russian companies, the report alleged, were also planning to ship weapons to Iraq just months before the start of the U.S.-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein's regime in March of 2003. In light of these findings, the source said, many officials in the administration were wary of close military collaboration with Russia, but national security advisor Condoleeza Rice insisted on asking Russia for troops. The Kommersant-Vlast magazine, which is owned by exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky noted, however, that high-placed sources in the Kremlin had denied reports earlier this year that Russia had agreed to send troops to Iraq. Take with a grain of salt. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #16 Well, that's always the problem with the Russkies, isn't it? |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-11-18 9:30:03 PM |
| #15 You might get them in but how will you make them leave? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-11-18 9:01:33 PM |
| #14 It's hard to find a more notorious record of military failure, at least among western militaries, than Russia's ten-year Chechnya fiasco. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-18 6:16:14 PM |
| #13 Russian troops in Chechnya are known for selling weapons to the rebels. And this is in their own country. Note that close to a fifth of the Russian population is Muslim. How many Russian troops are Muslim? And to what extent has this contributed to Russia's high casualty rate in Chechnya? No - I don't think we either need or want Russian troops in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-11-18 6:13:15 PM |
| #12 fwiw I neither desire nor expect to see Russian troops in Iraq. Given their less than stellar success in Chechnya I'd prefer that the drunken hazees stay as far away as possible. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-18 6:11:07 PM |
| #11 I really doubt this will happen, and I surely hope it won't happen. Where in Iraq should Russian (or French) troops be deployed: the part where we will consider them as unreliable (Sunnistan), or the the part where the locals will consider them virtually an enemy (most of the country)? Those are the choices. The MSM, Dems, clueless pundits and Euros may be ignorant, but Iraqis know the best friends of their erstwhile great leader/tormentor. I prefer the buy-off part WRT Russian nuke and other industries. Seems to me we oughta shake down the Euros and Japanese, but good, to share in the cost, and go buy out anything we can that constitutes a choke-point in Russian proliferation activity. A risky and costly and uncertain enterprise, but at least one with a huge potential security payoff .... |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2004-11-18 6:02:39 PM |
| #10 This is a New York Times style non attributed story. Could be a trial balloon, but I seriously doubt it. It ain't happening, folks. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-11-18 4:19:34 PM |
| #9 The problem is the rogue elements in the FSB and the military, that is to say, the majority there. The Russian people have no sympathy whatsoever with the arabs. Post-Beslan, many are quite sympathetic to the Israelis-- one-fifth of whom, btw, are transplanted Russians. The first step in getting Volodya to tilt toward Israel and the US in the middle east is to buy off the Russian industries that depend heavily on middle eastern contracts. Give LUKoil preference on Iraqi oilfield development contracts (and freeze out TotalFinaElf). Buy off the Russian nuclear industry that's supplying Iran. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-18 4:17:34 PM |
| #8 This will never happen. I don't think the current Iraqi gov't is feeling too kindly towards the Rooskies. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-11-18 4:10:20 PM |
| #7 interesting development . Condoleeza Rice has good Russian contacts I beleive , anyone care to verify my assumptions ? And yes , I wonder what was used as bait , oil contracts or better ? |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-18 3:20:17 PM |
| #6 This is intereasting but when I see boots on the ground I will believe it. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-11-18 2:15:38 PM |
| #5 we've capture a bunch of Chechens who Vlad would like to 'query' that might be the bait |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-11-18 2:13:28 PM |
| #4 Newsweak? And that's supposed to give them credibilty? LOL |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-18 12:31:05 PM |
| #3 Forget Berezovsky's ownership; Kommersant's a decent publication, usually reliable. Probably the best in Russia. They have relationships with the FT and I believe Newsweek. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-18 12:28:31 PM |
| #2 "We'll be stationed over here, by the oil tanker terminals, okay?" |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-11-18 12:26:24 PM |
| #1 Want to keep a closer eye on your investments, Vlad? |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-11-18 12:24:13 PM |