Russia Denies Involvement in Iraq Weapons

AP ^ | 10/28/04 | VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

[tomahawk]

Russia Denies Involvement in Iraq Weapons

1 hour, 46 minutes ago

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Russia angrily denied allegations Thursday that Russian forces had smuggled a cache of high explosives out of Iraq (news - web sites) prior to the U.S. invasion in March 2003.

Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and "ridiculous."

"I can state officially that the Russian Defense Ministry and its structures couldn't have been involved in the disappearance of the explosives, because all Russian military experts left Iraq when the international sanctions were introduced during the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites)," he told The Associated Press.

The denial followed a story in The Washington Times on Thursday that quoted a high-ranking U.S. defense official alleging that Russian special forces had "almost certainly" helped spirit out the hundreds of tons of high explosives that went missing from the al-Qaqaa base. The newspaper based its report on an interview with John Shaw, the deputy U.S. undersecretary of defense for international technology security.

Two weeks ago, Iraqi officials told the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency that 377 tons of explosives had vanished as a result of "theft and looting ... due to lack of security." The compounds, HMX and RDX, are key components in plastic explosives, which insurgents in Iraq have used in bomb attacks.

Russia' charge d'affaires in Iraq, Ilya Morgunov, also denied the report.

"I didn't hear about any weapons to be taken out," Interfax quoted him as saying. "Moreover, there was nobody to take them out, because we actually evacuated all of our personnel."

He said there had been no Russian special forces in Iraq, only civilian specialists working for foreign firms.

[keats5]

"The story is suspect - Bush distancing himself because Putin is centralizing his power - not over this issue."

You're probably right. I remember the Bush administration criticizing Putin's power grab at the time.

[mikhailovich]

"Since begining my awakening process in 1996, I have increasingly embraced a hybrid of neo-Clausewitzian and Apocalyptic approaches to geopolitical analysis that would make all liberals, and even certain factions within the GOP, cringe"

1996, huh?

For such a sharp feller, it took you a little bit to perk up, didn't it?

BTW, it's "beginning," not begining.:wink:

[jb6]

Actually I used to be a Luthern but saw the light. So now should I add that you are paranoid of Orthodox too? Dude, meds, it does your mind good.

[focusandclarity]

They denied the had put missiles in Cuba in 1962 too!

[jb6]

Overtly, a large percentage of the threads you post on relate to Russia. Overtly, you time and time again are a Kremlin apologist. Keep on throwin' them stones boy!

Coming from someone who spews and oozes paranoia. What ever. Why did I ever talk to you in the first place, there's 10 minutes of my life wasted.

[GOP_1900AD]

Meds? Why would I want to mess with drugs? You, on the other hand, probably *have* messed with them. But even if not, those who target liberal Protestants for conversion to the Russian (Kremlin controlled, KGB/FSB infiltrated) bastardization of the proper EOC, have definitely messed with your head.

[GOP_1900AD]

Prior to '96 I would have fallen into the quasi RINO camp, some of whom appear to post at this forum. Thanks for catching the typo.

[GOP_1900AD]

No crystal ball. Just the forum's own tools. You are not as obsessed with Kremlin ongoing apology as the other user I am going after on this thread, but you are suspiciously close to that level.

[CRB84769]

I believe you are talking about the convoy that the Australian SAS hit early in the war. Monica Crowley mentioned it on Fox News early on in the War.

[Paperdoll]

According to Gertz: The reason the Russians extracted weapons from Iraq is because THEY had supplied the weapons to Iraq! To Syria and Lebanon. A coverup now being exposed.

[jer33 3]

If your tag is Truth equals Christ is sincere, then please don't throw God's name around in your messages.

[GOP_1900AD]

Kremlin ongoing apology > S/B > ongoing Kremling apology

[GarySpFc]

Somebody is arming somebody! WHo says that communism is dead? Who says the cold war died when Regan said "tear the walls down Mr Gorbechev"? The cold war is now a different war funded by other means. The Russians hate the Americans! Go the Russia and get the feel from the people, they have been inbred to hate the west. This is not over. It was never over. Dont be lied to its just funneled in a different way.

Here we see an example of an ignorant know-it-all. Have you ever been to Russia? I have homes in the Kansas City area and one in Volgograd. I have lots of Russian friends, and not once have I heard any of them speak anything but good about America.

[GOP_1900AD]

That makes the most sense. And unlike the French or Germans, they were better positioned at the time to pull it off.

[mikhailovich]

Hmmmm. Suspiciously close?

Go back and try again. I offer nothing but 100% support for Bush and 100% contempt for John Kerry. I'm pro-America and pro-Russia. On this thread I have not jumped to conclusions or made excuses for Russia. Unlike others, I like to see all the facts come out before rushing to judgment.

If you got a problem with that, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Good day!

[GOP_1900AD]

Thanks. Good day to you too. And I agree, you've been pretty nice on this thread.

[GOP_1900AD]

Just curious. Are you an ex-liberal Protestant? I am doing somewhat of a study regarding conversion. Thanks.

[focusandclarity]

I think you are absolutely right. Did you get to check out this extensive reply with timeline of links? It is astounding.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1259767/posts

[TapTheSource]

What a surprise. Russia is denying that they stabbed America in the back...again!

[GarySpFc]

Just curious. Are you an ex-liberal Protestant? I am doing somewhat of a study regarding conversion. Thanks.

I was a liberl Protestant while in college and I voted for JFK and Carter. From 1963 until 1969 I served on a Special Forces A-Team. After my service in the army I worked as an insurance agent and attended seminary, where I earned a doctorate in theology.
I read your profile, and while there is some good to commend, the war you are contemplating is spiritual, not physical. Not everything in the Bible should be translated literally. Jesus did not mean he was a literal door, and neither did he mean for you to literally pluck out your eye. Likewise, when he said to follow him and let the dead bury the dead, he was not suggesting that literal dead men are going to bury dead men.