|
Russia Agrees to Send Troops to Iraq
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 2004-11-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=49162 |