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| Middle East |
| Even Pravda knows US troops are in Iraq already |
| 2003-01-31 |
| The Pentagon has admitted that it has troops in Iraq, although somewhat lamely, claimed that there were not many. We're not sure, but it's less than 90,000, at least right now. General Richard Myers, Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, admitted on Wednesday that âthere are a few soldiers in the north of Iraqâ. "Easily fewer than 90,000. Today." These are special forces and CIA operationals, engaged in training the Kurds for an incursion into areas outside their geographical homeland which will in turn create an ethnic nightmare in a post-Saddam pro-Washington Iraq. Let's not get our panties bunched here, Pravda. The Kurds will give us a hand with security and roadside assistance, and return home when we're done. They aren't settling south where they aren't wanted. âReconnaissance missionsâ are being carried out, admits Washington. These missions probably also involve the British SAS (Special Air Service), which customarily begin their activity in a war weeks, or even months, before hostilities are declared. These Pravda guys are Pravda.Ru contacts within the SAS confirm that reconnaissance activities can easily be termed as sabotage, murder or vandalism. "Nigel?" "Yes sir?" "Seems we have a leak somewhere in the SAS." "Not bloody likely, sir. Perhaps a reporter just trying to sound important?" "Oh, yes, quite, there's a good fellow. Let's remember his name, just in case." "Jolly good, sir." The operationals operate deep inside enemy territory. The operationals operate? Who'd they get to translate this, Alec Baldwin? They are trained to be invisible, often working by night and often under disguise. Many are chosen on an ethnic basis, for instance, Arabs are used in Arabic-speaking countries. Why of course, the Brits are using their English Foreign Legion for these operations. No wonder the operationals look Arab. Gads. Nearer to the starting of hostilities, they cut power lines, interrupt distribution processes and if possible, murder key figures, while AWACS spread havoc among the communications of the target. Such are acts of terrorism. Or, it could be part of a good operational plan. Gotta be Alec Baldwin translating this. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 Thanks for the clarification, Anonymous and Fred. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-01-31 20:51:00 |
| #8 Hek's mujaheddin were virtually all Pashtuns. The Pandjiris, under Massoud, were the ones who did most of the fighting, and virtually all the effective fighting. They were (are) an alliance of Tadjiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, what have you. Hek spent a lot of time plotting against Massoud, and because he was tight with Qazi and the JI he got the lion's share of the money. Matters were complicated further by the presence of Sayyaf, who was the Soddies' The Talibs were almost all Pashtuns, and quite a few of them were Paks (with "dual citizenship," of course). They got their start in the Pak madrassahs. Samiul Haq was their mentor, though Fazl and Qazi were also very, very close friends with them. The U.S. "aided" the muj through ISI, and the amount of money that stuck to the fingers of the Peshawar-Quetta fundo axis is probably a significant factor in its present financial health. I believe that most of our guys on the ground were either in the Peshawar-Quetta area on the Pak side of the border, or with the Pandjiris, with whom we had much better relations than we had with Hek and Sayyaf. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-01-31 15:29:24 |
| #7 Hey, Anonymous. I've been wondering to what degree the mujahideen aided by the US were Pashtun. Were there any? I gather that the (Afghan) Taliban were almost entirely Pashtun. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-01-31 13:59:06 |
| #6 I especially like their Al Sharpton coverage. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-01-31 13:03:48 |
| #5 Relax, guys, it's PRAVDA. Since the breakup of the Sovs, it's been pretty much the russian "National Enquirer". UFO stories a speciality. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-01-31 11:54:32 |
| #4 OKAY, seems I got my comment about the Pravda article posted under the article about Turkey above. My screw up. It belongs down here. So if interested go read it up there. Sigh. |
| Posted by: Rifle308 2003-01-31 10:12:10 |
| #3 Oy...when will this blowback theorizing end? Hey, Ptah...ever been to Pakistan? Afghanistan? Jeez...let me spell it out. Arabs, plus Pak ISI and assorted western crackpots=Al Qa'eda. Taliban=some former American trained/supported mujahideen, but vast majority 'students' We didn't train any Al Qa'eda...I know, I worked in the 80s for the US government with the mujahideen. And recently came back from Afghanistan again. Al Qa'eda were and are hated with a passion by the Afghans--they are troublesome interlopers and never accepted by the population...only by SOME Taliban. Al Qa'eda and Bin Laden never fought with the mujahideen til it was safe...i.e. the war with Soviets was over. Afghans thought them cowards for sitting out the war in villas and hotels in Peshawar; waiting for their main chance with the emerging Taliban. No blowback...except from our 'friends' the Pakistanis. Those we did support, like Hekmatyar, weren't welcome by the Taliban either...he went into exile in Iran. The vast majority--in fact, nearly all--of the mujahideen did not make common cause with even the Taliban. They continued to take the fight to the Taliban throughout a protracted civil war. The Taliban were not a factor in the Soviet war, fact is, they didn't exist til long after the war was over...they were children during that war, busily preparing in madrassas...funded by our other 'friends' the Saudis. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-01-31 09:17:07 |
| #2 Invisible special operations and AWACS, the two keys to the |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-01-31 07:39:28 |
| #1 In one sense, they DO have a point: SOME of the Afghans we trained to fight the commie imperialists certainly used those same skills to try and fight us. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority, if not all, of our Afghan combat casualties were caused by people we trained. Going Off topic, but that's why Turkey is worried: We not only know how to fight, but we know how to train people to fight. In that note, I have to register my cautious, my-eyes-wide-open agreement: We not only gotta train the Kurds to be meaner SOBs, but we gotta make sure they stay OUR meaner SOBs. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-01-31 06:40:54 |