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| Iraq |
| U.S. Believes Russians in Baghdad Aiding Iraq |
| 2003-03-24 |
| The United States believes Russian company technicians are in Baghdad helping train Iraqis to operate electronic jamming systems that could interfere with U.S. forces fighting Iraq, a U.S. official said on Monday. President Bush telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to protest against alleged Russian sales of night-vision goggles, antitank missiles and global positioning system (GPS) jamming systems to Iraq, the White House said. U.S. officials said such sales would violate U.N. sanctions. "It's the kind of equipment that will put our young men and women in harm's way," Secretary of State Colin Powell told Fox News Channel, without identifying the materiel. "It gives an advantage to the enemy, an advantage we don't want them to have.We have been in touch with the Russians over a period of many months to point this out .... and in the last 48 hours I have seen even more information that causes me concern," Powell said. "So far I am disappointed at the response." Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of Russia, which with France opposed the U.S.-led war against Iraq and threatened to veto a U.N. resolution sanctioning it, denied Russia had supplied Iraq with any military equipment in breach of U.N. sanctions."No facts proving U.S. concerns have been found," Ivanov said in Moscow, although a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said Moscow would study any evidence Washington provides. U.S. officials said Washington had been worried about the alleged sales by Russian companies for the better part of a year and had protested to Moscow at increasingly senior levels, culminating in Bush's telephone call to Putin on Monday. "We are very concerned that there are reports of ongoing cooperation and support to Iraqi military forces being provided by a Russian company that produces GPS jamming equipment," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, also citing alleged sales of night-vision goggles and anti-tank guided missiles. For years, the United States has with limited success asked Russia not to spread weapons technology, notably to Iran, where U.S. officials complain Moscow has sold missile technology. The United States has in particular pushed Russia to tighten export controls to prevent private firms from making such sales. U.S. officials believe the alleged military sales to Iraq have been carried out by private Russian firms and they want greater oversight by the Russian government to stop them. A U.S. official who asked not to be named said Washington decided to make its accusations public late last week when it discovered Russian company technicians in Baghdad aiding the Iraqis with the jamming system after the U.S.-led war began. "They are there in Baghdad ... trying to make the system work, the jamming system," said the U.S. official. "It was the discovery that there are ... Russian technicians helping to make this GPS jamming work in Baghdad that prompted the internal debate in the U.S. government about what to do and (whether) to go public," the official added. Allegations of such alleged Russian military sales surfaced on Sunday in the Washington Post, which reported that the United States had protested against the sales late last week. The newspaper cited Bush administration sources as saying one Russian company was helping the Iraqi military deploy electronic jamming equipment against U.S. planes and bombs, and two others have sold antitank missiles and thousands of night-vision goggles in violation of U.N. sanctions. A U.S. official who asked not to be named told Reuters there were signs some of materiel may have been listed as bound for Syria or Yemen to hide its intended destination. |
| Posted by:Yosemite Sam |
| #6 How 'bout saving the MOAB for later on? I'm for releasing a few daisy cutters on some of those bastards south of Baghdad. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-03-24 21:58:48 |
| #5 We could be facing slaughter...on our side. Just heard pilots only NOW are allowed to engage targets of opportunity. Sheesh. FRANKS DON'T BE A FOOL. You know what needs to be done, so do it! |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-24 17:09:20 |
| #4 Agreed g wiz. Sammy's boys are taking full advantage of this PC approach. They so far have read us pretty good and have adapted their tactics accordingly. It's still early, and the real battle has yet to commence. When we go for Baghdad the gloves have to come off, or we could be facing an entirely different conflict. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-03-24 16:23:08 |
| #3 If the AT missiles and night vision goggles work as good as the GPS jammers, this will all be over tomorrow. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-24 16:08:07 |
| #2 Why waste a perfectly good American MOAB, when we've got two Russian cruise missiles with warheads to spare? "No facts proving U.S. concerns," huh? |
| Posted by: matt 2003-03-24 15:31:33 |
| #1 I think it's time for us to stop whining about the Geneva convention and the Russians and just MOAB a few select areas. This PC method of waging war has backfired tremendously. BTW, anyone know what became of the supposed Iraqi officials who reportedly were fleeing Baghdad a few days ago? Do we have them in custody? |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-03-24 15:20:44 |