According to a report in the recent issue of Jane’s Foreign ReportIsraeli special forces are operating inside western Iraq to locate missile launchers that could be used against Israel.
The elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit was ordered to scout out and “find and identify places used by or likely to be used by Iraqi Scud missiles.”
Analysis: [...]
Fact: Baghdad’s outer reaches are defended by half of the Iraqi Republican Guard, amounting to three tank divisions, each with between 10,000 and 15,000 troops. The inner city is defended by 15,000 troops in a paramilitary unit called the Special Republican Guard (security forces picked for their loyalty to Hussein).
Door to door combat in a [...]
The Army’s Center of Military History just published a study regarding the force size requirements for occupation of Iraq. The study was requested earlier this year by the Army’s director of transformation due to the countless peace-keeping missions, humanitarian aid missions, and other force commitments in other parts of the world.
The study states that 100,000 [...]
In a new embarrassment to the Russian Army, a new report details an increasing trend of conscript desertions. What happened? A mass desertion in Volgograd was reported by a human rights group that interviewed the deserters.
Some human rights groups state desertions are a severe problem. They reported 2,270 soldiers leaving their units without permission in [...]
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, said “Bush wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It’s a classic tactic. It’s one that Hitler used.”
President Bush’s reaction was outrage. Mr. Schroeder has been criticizing the United States over Iraq as part of a campaign plank for in his re-election battle in Germany.
Analysis: [...]
There are reports today from Rafah, Gaza Strip of a disturbing incident. A U.N. delegation came under fire from Israeli Army troops while they were inspecting homes bulldozed by the Israelis. The incident occurred at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. A Reuters news correspondent also came under fire.
Analysis: Boy, the United [...]
The US and British pilots flying in the northern and southern “no-fly” zones in Iraq have received new orders. In the past, when pilots were confronted with hostile missile or AAA fire from the Iraqi’s, the pilots would target the missiles or guns themselves. Now, the pilots are ordered to attack the command and communications [...]
Some disturbing new intelligence has come from a former Iraqi nuclear scientist named Dr Khidir Hamza.
Dr. Hamza was involved in starting and directing Iraq’s nuclear bomb program before he defected in 1994. The scientist states that Iraq used pirated German centrifuge equipment and smuggled Brazilian uranium ore in the nuclear development program. He also [...]
Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz on Friday rejected the unconditional return of U.N. arms inspectors. His explanation is, “the return of inspectors without conditions will not solve the problem…we have had a bad experience with them. Is it clever to repeat an experience that failed and did not prevent aggression?”
Analysis: So much for the [...]
