Iraq secretly bought 1,000 Kornet missiles: Pentagon (those M1A1s WERE hit by Kornets!)

The Economic Times ^ | MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2003 10:30:08 AM | The Economic Times

[Smogger]

NEW YORK: Iraqis have secretly bought as many as a thousand Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles which are lightweight, very powerful and easy-to-use, Pentagon officials claimed.

The sellers are Ukrainian arms dealers and possibly some entrepreneurial Syrian generals or the Syrian government itself, the officials were quoted as saying by Newsweek. They reportedly sent Baghdad some 500 Kornets in January.

The Kornet anti-tank missiles were used to attack two US tanks, both Abrams M1A1s during the ongoing war in Iraq. The first M1s ever destroyed by enemy fire in battle, they were caught in an ambush of the US Army's 3/7 Cavalry near As Samawah, on the west bank of the Euphrates River.

Two is not a large number and the invading forces have at least 650 tanks in Iraq with more on the way. But US officials, the magazine said, are worried about the skill or "at least the fanaticism" of the guerrilla fighters who sneaked up on the tanks driving a "technical," a jeep, under cover of a sandstorm.

Less than two weeks into the war, the magazine examined whether it started with enough force and whether Operation Iraqi Freedom risks blowing up into a Middle East War.

That scenario, once very remote, is no longer unthinkable, it said. Barring a sudden collapse of the Baathist regime - still a possibility, senior administration officials insist - the war in Iraq is about to get bloodier.

"Somewhere deep in his network of tunnels and bunkers," Saddam Hussein "is convinced he can win," not by defeating superior US forces on the battlefield, but merely by surviving while Islamic rage builds from Cairo to Islamabad, the magazine said quoting a senior US official.

With a show of "shock and awe," American might was supposed to overwhelm the Iraqis and crack Saddam Hussein's regime. Tipped off by a spy in his inner circle, the US military tried to kill him and his sons as they slept with a surprise "decapitation" strike on the first night of the war.

US officials were engaged in delicate secret talks with some of Saddam Hussein's henchmen which appear to have gone nowhere. Saddam Hussein is almost surely alive; the spy, according to a knowledgeable source, has been "compromised," meaning that he is probably dead.

When American soldiers began dying in ambushes from Iraqis pretending to surrender, it didn't take long for Washington officialdom to start leaking exculpatory memoranda.

One CIA memo made available to Newsweek was entitled "Iraq: Potential aRisks in Rear Areas." The paper warned of Saddam loyalists attacking American supply lines with "hit and run tactics" using "RPGs rocket-propelled grenades) and small arms."

The document was widely distributed at the Pentagon, though one intelligence official, Newsweek said, acknowledges that, given Washington's strange hothouse ways, the paper might have been more carefully read at the top if it had been stamped "TOP SECRET" instead of merely "SECRET."

Saddam Hussein's irregulars have adopted tricks from the Somali guerrillas, including firing from behind groups of women and children.

Saddam Hussein will try to increase the American death rate, possibly by ordering his commanders to use bio-chem weapons, the magazine said.

[Stavka2]

Problem is, Bush promised a lot or hinted at a lot and delivered nothing. Putin, an elected official, is seen as caving into America and being left out to dry. What's he to do? Most Russians are against this war, he's an elected official. In republics, elected officials do their people's bidding. Or so the theory goes.

[Stavka2]

Guess the US should still be hating the Japanese.

[Calpernia]

That really wasn't directed at you. I was responding to mikhailovich for you. I just wanted to include you in the response. To give you a reference in case he answered you back instead of me.

[RetiredArmy]

The commie sticks his red head out of his bunker in Moscow. Your so stinking red it is glowing and I can see if from here. Move to Moscow pal. They love you there. I could care less what you say or think. This is my last response to you, I don't waste my time trying to tell a red lover not to be a red lover. You are a socialist from the get go. Head back to Moscow comrade. We don't need you here. We have your brothers Dash-hole, Gephart and the Klintons to listen too. Wannabe.

[Calpernia]

Oh, and he (Putin) has to know since he authorized flights into Baghdad ;)

[Stavka2]

Oh, that's right, a conservative must blindly follow the government (as long as the right party is in), must support Neocon imperialism, and say at least 1 thing racist against Russians a day....otherwise he is obviously a communist...hell, everyone is a communist, except for you enlightened few...yup, go found your own little "pure" colony. Christ, you sound like a bad fundi preacher.

[Stavka2]

You do understand that was the Soviets, right? You do understand that out of 55% of the population being Russian, only 3 out of 12 members of the Poliburo were Russians? And I'm sure you're fully aware that the first Russian in charge of the Soviet Union was also the last...Gorbachov...but I'm sure you missed those little facts in your frenzy of hatred.

[Stavka2]

Don't confuse Phima's issues with the facts...she's on a role "When the Russian's bombed Pearl Harbor". Hatred, it does a soul good.

[mikhailovich]

I read everything you provided. It is hazy, at best. Answer me this: What is the most compelling, serious, Russian Government-authorized arms-sale to Iraq you can prove, during the past 10 years? Please list it for all to see.

If, and I say IF, it is proven that Putin authorized military arms-sales to Iraq, in violation of the UN sanctions, then I will be in 100% support of your opposition.

[Stavka2]

You are a McCarthy idiot. Hope you didn't work in intel, you'd have done the Army a disservice. Pucker off nimrod. FUBARed to the extreme. Oh, and I'm sure there's a commie under your bed...don't sleep with the lights off.

[justshutupandtakeit]

I have sympathy for Putin's situation and still believe him to be a good man. Maybe things will work out for the best.

[PhiKapMom]

I understood that -- I just thought your post was really good and to the point!

[Stavka2]

We'll all live better when the Cold War generation is off to the farm. They've dedicated their lives to an event that is over and they can't accept that.

[PhiKapMom]

Oh, and he (Putin) has to know since he authorized flights into Baghdad ;)

Just wanted to see that in print again! That little detail seems missing from the "Putin doesn't know" crowd!

[Calpernia]

No, there WAS a good point made about the arms sales. Those documented pieces were before Putin. But, as I stated, Putin's administration is still documented as violating sanctions in other areas. I gave an example of that in #43. There are more similar occurances, but I'm multi tasking now and can't do searches at this time. I can make note of you and ping you later if you prefer. Or you can search those databases yourself at www.iraqwatch.org

[Redleg Duke]

Yeah, the war is going to get bloodier...for the Iraqi's!

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

US officials were engaged in delicate secret talks with some of Saddam Hussein's henchmen which appear to have gone nowhere. Saddam Hussein is almost surely alive; the spy, according to a knowledgeable source, has been "compromised," meaning that he is probably dead.

Wow, it looks like just about everyone went off about the Kornets and got in a pissing match over Russia, and missed this little gem. This is the first I've heard of it, any other verification?

Saddam is either dead or incapacitated, and one of his sons along with Aziz is running the show. The 'spy' probably is dead, but only because they had to kill everyone who knew but didn't die in the attack, to get him.

[Calpernia]

I may also add that Russia and France did sell the ampoules to Iraq that the US blocked Turkey from selling (antidote to VX gas) 3.5 million doses.

[mikhailovich]

OK, your answer was "NO." Pretty strong accusations for someone who cannot list a single, proven violation.

Multi-tasking, or multi-dodging?

[Calpernia]

Out of curiousity, why don't you think Russia should step up and help a country disarm when there is no dispute that Russia assisted in arming them? Yes, your dispute is who's administration it occurred under; but Bush was not involved in arming Iraq, Clinton was. Does that mean Bush should not be involved in disarming them?