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| Axis of Evil |
| Turkish TV Reports U.S. Troop Movements |
| 2002-12-16 |
| The Pentagon said yesterday that it had no information about an alleged movement of U.S. troops and equipment into northern Iraq from Turkey, reported by Turkey's NTV and the Arabic al-Jazeera television channel. A Pentagon spokesman in Washington said he was not aware of the report. "I have nothing on that," he said. A Turkish military spokesman declined to comment on the NTV report, and a U.S. Embassy official in Ankara, the Turkish capital, said: "I have heard nothing." The NTV report, he added, "is not substantiated." "Nope, I know nothing, I see nothing. Nothing!" Al-Jazeera quoted Turkish military sources as saying 50 U.S. military trucks had started transporting equipment Saturday from an air base in southern Turkey into three areas in northern Iraq controlled by Kurds. The report said the trucks had used the Habur border crossing. "Jazeera learned that there are 500 U.S. Special Forces training around 2,000 Kurds and making logistical preparations for the arrival of thousands of U.S. troops in the event of an attack on Iraq," the Qatar-based television channel said. The Turkish military rarely if ever provides information to foreign media. NTV also aired a report saying 50 U.S. military vehicles had crossed into Iraq through Habur and that the number of "American intelligence and military personnel in northern Iraq has reached 500." NTV did not give a source for the story. The 500 U.S. Special Forces personnel is most likely wrong, but as a total for all intel and military personnel it sounds likely. Thought they were going to train the Kurds outside Iraq, but that may be a different group. |
| Posted by:Steve |