Linda_K
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posted on February 19, 2003 03:12:14 AM new
Iranian-backed forces cross into Iraq By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Guy Dinmore in WashingtonPublished: February 18 2003 21:48 |Last Updated: February 19 2003 1:43
Iranian-backed Iraqi opposition forces have crossed into northern Iraq from Iran with the aim of securing the frontier in the event of war, according to senior Iranian officials.
The forces, numbering up to 5,000 troops, with some heavy equipment, are nominally under the command of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, a prominent Iraqi Shia Muslim opposition leader who has been based in Iran since 1980 and lives in Tehran.
Taken from FT.com
[ edited by Linda_K on Feb 19, 2003 03:14 AM ]
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neonmania
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posted on February 19, 2003 08:01:28 AM new
I hate to say it but if we are trying to gather our friends around us, did't you expect them to do the same?
Maybe Iranian leaders have been reading this border and some posters desire to keep marching on thru the penninsula once we are dome in Iraq.
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donny
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posted on February 19, 2003 08:33:45 AM new
We seem to be a bit confused.
Iran and Iraq are not allies.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 19, 2003 08:44:07 AM new
No, it doesn't surprise me.
I'm not confused. That was my point. Some here keep saying that there can be NO connection between the A-Q and Saddam because they are enemies and don't share the same religion. Well...look here...Iraq and Iran forming a aliance. I've said I believe their shared hatred of the US could bring them together. Looks like maybe it has.
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neonmania
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posted on February 19, 2003 08:52:46 AM new
Donny - I know - I was using a little license in that statement but my point was that we as try to rally the world against Iraq we should not be surprised when Iraq tries to recruit some support of their own. With it's large shared border it natural that Iran might be a little nervous about our beloved pres deciding "Well, as long as we are there......"
[ edited by neonmania on Feb 19, 2003 09:05 AM ]
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donny
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posted on February 19, 2003 09:02:30 AM new
Yes, you are confused, Linda.
From your article.
"A senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named, said the presence of Ayatollah Hakim's troops was defensive and aimed at countering a possible attack on Iran by the People's Mujahideen Organisation (MKO), an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq and strongly supported by President Saddam Hussein."
... aimed at countering a possible attack on Iran by an organization supported by Saddam Hussein.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1045510848273&p=1012571727088
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donny
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posted on February 19, 2003 09:05:11 AM new
Iran and Iraq are NOT forming an alliance. It's the exact opposite.
Sigh.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 19, 2003 10:36:11 AM new
donny - Appears I may have misinterpreted the intent of the article. My focus was on this following paragraph. It IS getting increasingly complicated to know who the enemy is and who it's not. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
Analysts close to the administration of President George W. Bush said the US was concerned about the intentions of this new element in an increasingly complicated patchwork of forces in northern Iraq.
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gravid
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posted on February 19, 2003 12:07:08 PM new
They are going to rip a little hunk off for themselves if they can.
Get it?
That's one thing a lot who actually live over there worry about that the Turks will take the north the Iranians the east the oilless desert in the west who cares? But you end up with not much of a country left and even less stability.
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Linda_K
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posted on February 19, 2003 12:40:53 PM new
get it? Thanks for your input too, gravid. That's why I originally put a ? mark in the thread title. To see how others viewed this situation. That's what I enjoy about reading and posting here. We can discuss these different situations and see how others are evaluating the same information. I posted how I "assumed" it to be and was wrong in doing so.
So....I think I "got it".
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donny
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posted on February 19, 2003 12:50:25 PM new
I'm with you on the increasingly complicated part, Linda, and it wasn't so easy to begin with.
When it gets too difficult, I'll take up the "for us or against us" standard. Much simpler!
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gravid
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posted on February 19, 2003 04:21:37 PM new
posted quick running out the door and when I came back and looked at it it sounded real snarky - sorry
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