Posted on 10/29/2004 3:51:10 PM PDT by focusandclarity
Russia - Masque Of The Red Death
Vladimir Putin has been hailed perhaps as the pivotal post cold war Russian leader. He has executed a skillful dog and pony show, convincing both the Bush and Blair administrations that the former Soviet Union was not only no longer a military threat to the West but was indeed now becoming a close ally.
Obviously Russia's cooperation with the French and German UN delegation's intransigence in dealing with Iraq has done much to throw cold water on this heretofore-budding union.
It's important to note that such a relationship offered hope, though ultimately unfounded, of something really new and remarkable both as to its breadth and depth - to the degree that Mr. Bush had publicly voiced that he had "looked into his [Putin's] soul" and not found it wanting.
However disappointing might Russia's UN behavior have been to the Bush team, it could not be viewed as a reason for totally repudiating the “new start.”
Until recently a reasonable case could be made to continue pursuing it - with perhaps less evangelical fervor - all the while being cognizant that Putin was obviously more pragmatic than had been believed and that the reality was that though Russia had come a long way, it had much further to go before being considered reliable in any global sense.
At the outbreak of the war, Iraq owed Russia at least 8 and possibly as much as 12 billion dollars for arms already supplied. As was the case with France, this credit was extended - having been bet on the come line - against much hoped for oil and other commercial considerations.
[As a side note it must be pointed out that Russia has no qualms about dealing with other regimes hostile to the US. They have provided the Chinese with a withering array of technologies. DEBKAfile has reported that the Russian state arms merchant Rosoboroneksport has provided state of the art ship-borne air defense systems for heavy cruisers and other blue water naval vessels. This system is to become the primary defensive shield for a fleet of 10,000 ton heavy cruisers and modern aircraft carriers with which it intends to have the capability to assault Taiwan, maybe as soon as 2005 or 2006.]
Russia has supplied Saddam with military technology running the gamut of its capabilities - from retro T-72 tanks and BTR troop transports, to highly sophisticated weaponry. After hostilities in Iraq had commenced they supplied such items as night vision equipment, GPS jamming devices that could cause some of the Allies' precision guided weapons systems to be rendered ineffective and anti-tank Kornet rockets considered pivotal in the disabling of at least 2 M -1 Abrams tanks – the first time they have ever been destroyed in battle.
In an article written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty by Gregory Feifer:
"Independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said that, although he has seen no concrete evidence of how the Kornets got to Baghdad, Iraqi forces "would not have been able to put up any resistance" were it not for violations of United Nations sanctions on the country. "Over the past 12-plus years that the sanctions have been in place, Russia, like Ukraine and Belarus, has taken part in violating them. During all those 12-plus years, military materiel and weaponry have been sent to Iraq," Felgenhauer said." As it proceeded to Baghdad, the Army's Third Infantry Division came upon a Republican Guard run factory set up to refurbish Russian military heavy equipment, according again to Radio Free Europe, this time by imbedded correspondent Ron Synovitz:
"The letter [detailing current Russian - Iraqi arms dealing], dated July 2001 and written in broken English, is signed by Colonel General Vladislav Achalov, who identifies himself as a representative of a Moscow-based company, FTW Systems Ltd.
At this time there are no means to ascertain whether the letter was in fact sent by Achalov. The Associated Press, citing the Interfax-Military news agency, recently reported that Achalov, a former Soviet deputy defense minister, said he had repeatedly visited Iraq just before the war and had found Iraqi defenses to be strong.
AP also cited Achalov as saying Soviet military advisers had been based in Baghdad until the early 1990s and had made a "significant contribution" to the Iraqi armed forces.
The letter apparently signed by Achalov says it is in response to an Iraqi request for the "delivery of equipment." It offers 50 new gun barrels for T-72 tanks at the price of $124,000 each -- a total of $6.2 million. It also offers 400 new engines for BTR troop carriers at $7,500 each -- an additional $3 million."
The Secret Intelligence War
Perhaps most chilling, in US and British eyes, is Russia's apparent involvement in intelligence sharing with Saddam. From a ground breaking article, "Revealed: Russia spied on Blair for Saddam" by David Harrison of the Daily Telegraph UK.
"Top secret documents obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein's regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders."
"Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for "hits" in the West and details of arms deals to neighboring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to "obtain" visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'eda leader."
On April 6, 2003 a convoy of Russian diplomats was hit in an attack originally termed as a friendly fire incident. Allegedly the Russian Ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Titorenko, was injured in the attack, as was Ilya Morgunov a member of the party.
An Australian SAS patrol came upon the scene shortly after the shooting stopped and rendered first aid assistance. They offered to airlift the diplomats out of harm’s way, which seemed reasonable given the circumstances.
"We treated the ambassador of Russia and his colleagues from the embassy courteously and professionally, and after the appropriate checks ... they were allowed to go on their way," Australian Prime Minister John Howard The Russians inexplicably refused the offer, despite the serious condition of a member of the party, and proceeded on to Syria, of all places and from there Titorenko was flown back to Moscow.
By Wednesday April 9 Titorenko was back in Baghdad, the Russian evacuation of the Baghdad embassy cancelled.
Why this madcap flight across the desert through a hail of American lead?
Speculation is pointing in the direction that the Russians were using the convoy as a cover to remove highly classified and potentially highly embarrassing Iraqi Special Services documents to a safer environment.
The Russian newspaper, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, reported on April 9th that the convoy was carrying secret Iraqi archives and that U.S. forces had fired on it as part of a CIA attempt to seize the documents. It is speculated that U.S. commandos had tried to stop the convoy without hurting its passengers, the newspaper claimed, but their attempt to seize the archives was “foiled” when accompanying Iraqi forces returned fire
The US denies that any attack was launched against the convoy, which may or may not be the case.
Regardless, the degree of already substantiated or strongly suspected cooperation between Russia, Belarus, other fragments of the former Soviet empire along with France and Germany in enabling Saddam's war making capacity - of times even after Operation Iraqi Freedom began - is so disturbing as to cast a severe pall on any future dealings with these governments.
“He [Assad] is trying to achieve this by placing Iraq’s entire chemical and biological weapons arsenal in a safe repository, also placing the scientists and officials employed on Iraq’s unconventional weapons programs out of reach in hidden locations. In this clandestine operation he was almost certainly assisted by Russian and French intelligence services, which share Assad’s ambition to deny the United States any proof that its war on Iraq was just.” - DEBKAfile
I think this "far ranging assistance" includes spiriting out 380 tons of dangerous explosives and other WMD from al Qaqaa in Iraq to Syria.
(9/11 was intended as a decapitating strike.Had it succeeded completely we would probably be under martial law right now.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.