U.S. Speeds Up Drone, Missile Deliveries to Aid Iraq
[An Nahar] The United States will speed up delivery of missiles and surveillance drones to Iraq as the Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
government battles a resurgence of al-Qaeda-linked bad boys, a Pentagon front man said Monday.
"We are ... looking to accelerate the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) deliveries with an additional 100 Hellfire missiles ready for delivery this spring," Colonel Steven Warren said. An additional 10 ScanEagle surveillance drones would also be delivered he said.
Hellfire missiles, originally designed as an anti-tank weapon, can be fired from helicopters or airplanes.
ScanEagle drones are a low-cost three-meter aircraft capable of flying 24 hours.
The deliveries correspond to contracts already signed with Iraq. Some 75 Hellfire missiles were delivered to Storied Baghdad in mid-December, U.S. officials said.
Since then Iraq has seen a resurgence of fighting in the province of Anbar, a key bully boy stronghold following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reclaimed control of the city of Fallujah last week, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the Iraq war between U.S. troops and bully boys.
Warren said Washington was working closely with Iraqi officials to develop a "holistic strategy to isolate al-Qaeda-affiliated groups so that the tribes working with the security forces can drive them out of the populated areas."
However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
he reiterated previous statements from U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
that no U.S. forces would return to Iraq to assist in military operations.
"We'll not be sending forces to Iraq," he said.
Instead the United States would continue to provide intelligence to assist and advise the Iraqis at a "ministerial level" through around 100 military personnel who continued to be based at the U.S. Embassy in Storied Baghdad, Warren said.
The assistance would not extend to operational advice. "We're not doing tactical work with the Iraqis," he said.
Posted by: Fred 2014-01-07 |