Could the Russians be training/supporting insurgents in Iraq?

[underpants]

Remember what Putin said the last time he was at Camp David?

He said (can't find the quote) that he/they had been contacted just after 9/11 by ~'powers' that the coming attack in Afghanistan could provide an incredible opportunity for the big bear to exact revenge or at least weaken the US. He said that he did not chose that path mainly due to the personal relationship between he and W and that had that not been in place he couldn't say what he would have done. This of course passed right through W's head and he spoke about something else.

So how do we know (or could we) that at least some of the insurgents aren't Russian trained or supported?

They have much more experience in that country and many more contacts than we do. Perhaps after passing on the first opportunity (thankfully) to strike out or at least weaken a sizable US military force in their back yard maybe Putin et al decided not to miss this chance.

With the huge car bombs of the last week (100+ Iraqis dead) and the daylight attack on jail in Falujah it certainly seems that these forces are more ruthless, brazen, and trained. Could this be from "help" from the Russians as they would probably never be linked to it, at least that we would know.

Would W dare try to create yet another front if they knew this?

Could Putin be trading power in Iraq to the Chechnyan rebels to get them out of his country?

I of course hope this isn't true but I don't think that the bashing, though mostly aimed at the French, helped any.

Just an idea, theory.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

1. They wish

No, this is totally bogus. The Cold Warriors in the Bush cabinet would love this, they want nothing more than a return to the Reagan era so they can pump grotesque amounts on money into defense contractor pockets.

[underpants]

4. What, more than now?

No I know it is probably bogus but this hit me when I was flipping around the channels this afternoon.

:shrug:

[pscot]

15. I think you're right

The Russians have their hands full with the Chechens. It's hard to imagine them encouraging or arming muslim fundamentalists anywhere else. It could easily come back and bite them the way our Afghan aid back in the '80s appears to have done.

[knight_of_the_star]

2. Sounds possible

That and considering how weak Russia's government is, it wouldn't surprise me if the KGB was doing something without Putin's "knowledge."

[Mattforclark]

3. The KGB?

;)

[underpants]

6. Does he really have control of them yet?

Much of the tlak about ex-KGB agents forming the new Russian mafia seemed to fade rather quickly when Putin came to power, until then it was being portrayed (at least to us) as the Wild Wild West all over again.

That it could be out of Vlad's control was something I hadn't considered. I figured that he might like nothing more than seeing the old rivals taken down a notch whether he takes public credit for it or not, sort of the way that we get pumped up with every falter of the Old USSR.

[finecraft]

5. Read Charlie Wilson's War

I am reading it now. It details how the CIA funded the Afghan rebels for years against the Russians. It's not unbelievable to me to think this might be happening. Heck, if a Congressman from Texas can get the funds to carry on a covert war in Afghanistan, I guess some highly placed Russian official could do the same in Iraq.

[underpants]

8. That was the main reason he implied he ever considered the first offer

Revenge. Along with the Pope, the grain embargo, (sigh) Reagan, and the forseeable collapse of the former Soviet Union's economy their Vietnam in Afghanistan not only took them down a peg in the world's eyes (they weren't 10 feet tall after all) and showed weakness to their people, something they had never been able to see before.

Wow how was that for a run-on sentence?

[finecraft]

13. That was one great sentence!

It sure hit all the high points of the book!

[MilDem]

7. It wouldn't surprise me

The Russian government is weak, and Pres. Putin's track record as a trustworthy, democratically-minded individual is hardly stellar. If this is true, it creates a real problem about how to deal with Russia.

[underpants]

9. Right, what could we do?

let the US military take care of it in Iraq? Sure, of course.

Diplomacy? Please

Air strikes? or um the unthinkable?

IT could be a huge bargaining chip to force us to let their companies in and have a go at the till from the heist.

[mac2]

10. What World Union is Russia part of?

Does Russia have the same goals as the other Neo Cons for the Unions? What will the Union be called or what countries?

Is he doing this behind everyone's back? They tried before and want that oil/gas line for themselves.

Putin certainly fits the Neo Con (KBG like CIA) group with his tyranny and terrorism agenda. Putin cancelled elections.

Is this not what Bush will do in the future (or doesn't he have to with a swinging door of Neo Cons leaders of both parties). Doesn't matter who the leader is as long as they march to the drums?

The previous thuggish, corrupt leaders never punished? Bush certain walked away with more than his father to the bank.

One thing is certain, Bush has started a bag of worms that could go astray at any time.

[underpants]

11. Moscovites

have always felt preordained for world domination, or at least that is what my brother told me.

[Fovea]

12. a clear distinction to make.

I would not be surprised if *some Russians* were involved.
But I would be surprised, indeed shocked to hear that the
Russian govt would do this. Indeed, Putin does not want the Chechnyan
rebels to have any more land than is encompassed by a plain wooden coffin.

On the other hand, I can think of one or two oil execs in
Russia that might be quite eager to earn the love of the Iraqi
people, or their legal representatives, post occupation. This might explain a bit of the Govt hostility toward the oil oligarchs, however.

[underpants]

14. Do you mean like the second "power" to come in?

but this one gets rid of the first one that turned everything upside down. Yeah I could see that, they come in looking like uh liberators from the liberators.