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1) US 'Seeking Not To Settle Iraqi Crisis, But To Provoke War' 2) Turkish Parliament's Refusal A Serious Political Defeat For George Bush 3) Vladimir Putin Applauds Turkish Parliament's Vote Against US Troop Deployment 4) Russian Military Expert On US War Plans 5) Russian Analyst: US Planning To 'Quickly Switch Over' From Massive Bombardments To All-Out War http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3075680&startrow=11&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 RUSSIAN EXPERT: WAR IN IRAQ PREDETERMINED MOSCOW, March 4, 2003. /from a RIA Novosti correspondent/. - A sharp activation of US and UK air forces in Iraq testifies to the fact that the operation might begin just in a few days, Leonid Ivashov, Vice President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, said on Tuesday. According to him, the increase in air strikes by US and UK aircraft in Iraq proves first of all that the question whether the US operation against Iraq will take place or not has already been decided in Washington. The US "is seeking not to settle the Iraqi crisis, but to provoke war." At present the US "is actually conducting a preliminary stage of the operation to bring informational influence to bear upon and hold down morally and psychologically Iraq's army and civilians." The Russian expert also pointed out that a significant part of February's air strikes were targeted at communication centres. "The US is reasonably seeking to disable Iraq's military infrastructure, first of all troops control systems. All the above-said tells of a decision to begin the operation, which might be taken in a few days," Ivashov believes. ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3076020&startrow=1&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 REFUSAL OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT IS GEORGE W. BUSH'S SERIOUS POLITICAL DEFEAT MOSCOW, March 4th, 2003. /From a RIA Novosti correspondent/. - Sergei Rogov, head of the USA-Canada Studies Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences sees the refusal of the Turkish Parliament to deploy the U.S. troops in Turkey as "George W. Bush's serious political defeat." According to Mr. Rogov, the Northern Turkish front would have posed a serious threat to Iraq because a simultaneous military strike both from the north and from the south could have led to a rapid victory against Iraq. Now the U.S. troops, Mr. Rogov stressed, will have to attack Iraq from one direction only and it will be easier for Iraq to organize defence. According to him, it will cause more casualties among U.S. servicemen and protract hostilities. ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3075255&startrow=21&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 VLADIMIR PUTIN HIGHLY ASSESSES DECISION OF TURKISH PARLIAMENT MOSCOW, MARCH 4. (FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT). Vladimir Putin highly assessed the decision made by the Turkish parliament to bloc the possibility of using the country's military bases for US armed forces operations against Iraq. The Russian President declared at a session with government members in the Kremlin on Tuesday that this is "the most important event" of the last days. "May be it was unexpected for somebody but not for Russia," said the head of state and added that "we understand what the Turkish parliament was guided by." ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3075969&startrow=1&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 RUSSIAN MILITARY EXPERT ON SCENARIO OF POSSIBLE MILITARY OPERATION AGAINST IRAQ -[T]here is no ruling out a partisan war in the country with a population of 22 mln, which can drag out both the military operation and post-war settlement in Iraq, the official believes. Klyuchenok is sceptical about the intention to overthrow power in Baghdad, alluding to the example of Afghanistan, where the take-over resulted in a "vigorous flourishing of drug production and trade". MOSCOW, March 4, 2003. /from a RIA Novosti corr./ - The scenario of a possible military operation against Iraq is unlikely to differ much from the Desert Storm operation, Lieutenant General Vasily Klyuchenok, deputy head of the Federation Council's Defence and Security Committee, said at Tuesday's press conference in RIA Novosti. The main constituent of the potential military operation will be "the use of high-precision weapons and ample aviation", he believes. First of all, strikes will be targeted at the objects mentioned by US Secretary of State Colin Powell in the UN Security Council early in February, Klyuchenok said. The MP thinks the main target of the land operation to be the take-over of Baghdad. "The coalition hopes for soonest and positive results of the military action in Iraq," Vasily Klyuchenok remarked. However, there is no ruling out a partisan war in the country with a population of 22 mln, which can drag out both the military operation and post-war settlement in Iraq, the official believes. Klyuchenok is sceptical about the intention to overthrow power in Baghdad, alluding to the example of Afghanistan, where the take-over resulted in a "vigorous flourishing of drug production and trade". ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3075951&startrow=1&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 RUSSIAN SENATOR COMMENTS ON GROWING AIR STRIKES ON IRAQ MOSCOW, MARCH 4. /RIA NOVOSTI/. - The fact that the US and British air forces stepped up air attacks on Iraq in February proves that the preparation for a military operation is entering the final phase. Russian Air Force Lieutenant General Vasily Klyuchenok, second in charge of the defence and security committee of the Federation Council, or the upper parliamentary house, said this as addressing a press conference at the Novosti news agency on Tuesday. "Intensification of flights proves that pilots are completing training, studying the territory they are going to bomb," said the general. "Modern wars are modelled by computer then trained under realistic combat-like conditions," said General Klyuchenok. This confirms the assumption that a war in Iraq will start with a massive air attack, opined the senator. Yet, it cannot be said with certainty that the war will be launched some time soon, added the senator. The coalition might have intensified flights over Iraq simply to "divert attention." As RIA Novosti knows from a reliable source in Russian security agencies, in February US and British combat aircraft made 1,732 sorties, while their record in January was 1,593 sorties. The coalition aircraft made 20 strikes on Iraq's land targets, basically communication facilities. Two persons died as a result. Air raids on facilities in the Basra, Di Qar, Meisan and Nainawa provinces were the most frequent, according to Russian special services. ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3075362&startrow=21&date=2003-03-04&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 4, 2003 ARE INCREASED AIR STRIKES ON IRAQ A PRELUDE TO FULL-SCALE WAR? MOSCOW, MARCH 4. /FROM A RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT/. - Deputy director of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Kremenyuk believes that the dramatic increase of the strikes on Iraq by the aviation of the USA and Great Britain can be viewed as an intermediate phase in the preparation for a possible military operation in that country. As the scientist said, "the Americans would like to quickly switch over" from the bombardments of part of the Iraqi territory "to an all-out war." While the "no-fly zones" are bombed on the basis of the resolutions of the UN Security Council, so far there is no sanction of the UN Security Council for a military operation of the USA and Great Britain in Iraq. The sharp increase of the bombardments of the "no-fly zones" "causes alert because it can signify transition to the actions (in Iraq) which the USA is threatening with," Kremenyuk noted. On Monday Defence Minister of Great Britain Jeoffrey Hoon, speaking in the House of Commons of the British parliament, confirmed that the number of the aircraft which are used in patrolling the "no-fly" zones in the north of Iraq and the number of their sorties had increased. As he claimed, this is being done in accordance with international law and pursues defensive aims. According to an informed source in the Russian special services, in February the combat planes of the Air Forces of the U.S. and Great Britain set a new record of the number of sorties - they numbered 1,732. By way of comparison, the respective figure for January was 1,593. ------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html ==^================================================================