Posted on 08/24/2005 3:32:46 PM PDT by jmc1969
BRITAIN and the United States are training border guards in the Horn of Africa in the expectation that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, may seek sanctuary there if forced to flee Iraq.
Major-General Douglas Lute, the director of operations for US Central Command, which is responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan, said yesterday that once Iraq was stabilised, al-Zarqawi might head for the Horn of Africa to find a “safe haven”. He listed Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia as “ungoverned spaces” where al-Zarqawi might seek sanctuary to run his terrorist operations.
Small US specialist teams, supported by British counterparts, are training border security guards and working with customs and immigration officials in the region, hoping that they will be ready to spot al-Zarqawi and other al-Qaeda leaders.
Al-Zarqawi, already being squeezed inside Iraq, would have little option but to leave once the country was politically stable and secure. “We think he might move to the Horn of Africa. It’s a vast space, which causes us concern,” General Lute said.
He gave a warning that al-Zarqawi and other al-Qaeda “franchised” groups were increasingly turning to “virtual safe havens” — internet websites — to plot their terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
I think its a pretty large leap of faith to think he's even in Iraq. I suspect he is still in Syria.
I'm also not convinced border gaurds are going to make one iota of difference in a place where you can walk across a border un-hindered. God knows they haven't done a bit of good on the Mexican border.
When he says Zarqawi, already being sqeezed in Iraq, I suspect he more then Zarqawi himself means his network and that after Iraq is stabilized he will have to move his fighters from Iraq elsewhere to create a new base of operations.
No, no, this can't be! I thought we were losing, it's a quagmire, it's just like Vietnam, etc. It's almost as if the press has been supressing the good news or something.
Alert Lord Greystoke!
Seal teams ready.
Good post as usual. One might want to bet a dime he has not felt to comfortable in the past half year as he watches his operation crumble before his eyes, and see the Army,Marines, and IArmy kill his lieutents, capture them in raids, along with the goons squads as soon as they are located. 24/7 they
are hunted down throughout Iraq. They get no rest. As we continue to read well thought out articles by guys like Bill Regilo, Michael Yon, etc., we see there is no such thing as "static" from our side. If anything the insurgents are the static ones, rarely being able to carry out their missions.
Nah, I think he'll just join Osama at his palace in Iran.
"Nah, I think he'll just join Osama at his palace in Iran."
That sounds about right.
I hope the little bastard runs, it just makes it easier to kill him.
That may indeed be what they meant, but why have a base of operations so far from your enemy? With no Americans nearby to attack, what's the point? Its not like its ever going to be like it was in Afganistan again where they can capture the government and be safe to plan stikes from afar.
Their only safe haven is to cuddle up to the Iranians or the Pakistanis and hope we wont't want to touch them there.
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