Russia aided Hussein in 2003, Pentagon claims

[rachmaninoff2]

I'll preface this by mentioning the obvious, that this disclosure comes after a week of new rifts between the US and Russia, in particular Lavrov's affirmation that Russia will not support UN sanctions on Iran at the ongoing Security Council summit (read more at http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-07T204847Z_01_N06304381_RTRUKOC_0_US-RUSSIA-USA.xml&archived=False).

Pentagon: Russia gave Saddam US Intel

WASHINGTON - The Russian government had sources inside the American military command as it planned and executed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to Iraqi documents released as part of a Pentagon report.

The Russians passed information to Saddam Hussein on U.S. troop movements and plans during the opening days of the war, according to the report Friday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060324/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_war

Talk about hostile diplomacy... what is the intent of this report? Are they trying to put pressure on to alter their Iran stance, or retaliate for failed negotiations, or further discredit Lavrov in the western world, or what? Is the co-timing with the Belarussian situation relevant?

Or is this a mere fact-finding investigation, being undertaken by neutral minds in a political and diplomatic vacuum?

 

[Pengwuino]

Its Russian/American diplomacy.

 

[rachmaninoff2]

I said as much...

 

[BobG]

I think it's blown out of perspective. Russia omitted the most important tidbit of information:

"One of the serious problems in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals nor do they feel any obligations to follow their doctrine." -- From a Soviet military document

Here's a more detailed story on Russian intel: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11995121/

 

[deckart]

LOL, so there can be benefits to being wishy-washy!

 

[scott1]

Cold war II?
I guess the Union of soviet socilst republic/Russia vs. United states of America didn't end in 1990.I guess some people still don't like the U.S. "defeting" the soviets during the 1990's

 

[SOS2008]

I think it's blown out of perspective. Russia omitted the most important tidbit of information:

Here's a more detailed story on Russian intel: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11995121/

So the information is classified and can't be verified--imagine that. And if the information is true, it was gathered via eavesdropping--how ironic. And if the information was passed to Iraq it did not help Saddam because he was living in his own reality and was even more inept than the invading Commander-in-Chief. Hah!

The negative press about Russia at this time woudn't have anything to do with this, would it?

"Russia opposes punitive UN Council action on Iran" - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060308/wl_nm/nuclear_iran_russia_dc

 

[Pengwuino]

Cold war II?
I guess the Union of soviet socilst republic/Russia vs. United states of America didn't end in 1990.I guess some people still don't like the U.S. "defeting" the soviets during the 1990's

Lots of countries spy on each other, let alone the US and Russians. See, no one really trusts anyone... even EU nations spy on each other. It's a well accepted practice to keep things in order. No country wants to be caught in the dark when anything happens

 

[russ_watters]

Old habits die hard. If true, this doesn't surprise me a bit, nor does it particularly concern me.