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U.S. Special Forces in northern Iraq

From Jamie McIntyre
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) --Pentagon officials said Wednesday that U.S. military
personnel are working with CIA teams conducting "liaison" missions with Kurds in northern Iraq.

They said those people are who Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers was referring to when he used the term "not significant forces" in a Pentagon briefing earlier Wednesday.

Asked if there are U.S. military forces on the ground in the Kurdish part of northern Iraq now, Myers replied, "I don't think we want to get into where our forces are right now, but there are not significant military forces in northern Iraq right now."

Pentagon officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said a small number of U.S. Special Forces, "liaison officers," joined CIA teams that have been meeting with Kurdish leaders in the autonomous Kurdish zone, which has been outside the control of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein since 1991.

The CIA teams are both advising Kurdish leaders on how to protect themselves in the event of war, and determining what help the Kurds may be able to provide.

Pentagon officials discounted a report from an Iraqi opposition source that U.S. military transport planes landed Tuesday at the Harir airfield near the town of Shaqlawa in the western part of the zone, where workers unloaded containers and started construction.

"That is a false report," a Pentagon official told CNN.

Myers said he knew nothing about the reported landing of U.S. aircraft.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm not aware of that, actually," he said.

Interesting, but not surprising.

Not significant until you bring JDAM's and PAQ-10's into it anyway.

MKSheppard wrote:Myers said he knew nothing about the reported landing of U.S. aircraft.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm not aware of that, actually," he said.

I'm sigging that.


Any bets on when the war actually starts? I'm betting on late Feb, a helluva lot of people and gear will be in place by then.

Should we start a pool?

It's already begun with a gradual increase in DEAD and SEAD attacks in response to a major increase of Iraqi AAA and SAM firings. Over the next several weeks those will likley be stepped up even more while the last troops are shipped in. Then we have a massive air attack while air mobile and armored troops grab forward bases around the edge of Iraq.

I'd say under a month, the latest round of troop deployments need around 3-4 more weeks to get into place, and would place American forces past the estimated minimal for an all out war. And of course more can come later.

Yeah, the Christmas call-ups were a ominous sign, and weren't there also some substantial naval deployments from the States then as well? I remember hearing about a hospital ship leaving San Diego CA (IIRC) around Jan 1st and they mentioned a ~40 day travel time to the Persian Gulf.

I guess the proverbial fan will have been splattered when the Stealth bombers leave Whiteman AFB...

Aren't the SAS in Iraq now as well?

Drewcifer wrote:Yeah, the Christmas call-ups were a ominous sign, and weren't there also some substantial naval deployments from the States then as well? I remember hearing about a hospital ship leaving San Diego CA (IIRC) around Jan 1st and they mentioned a ~40 day travel time to the Persian Gulf.

I guess the proverbial fan will have been splattered when the Stealth bombers leave Whiteman AFB...

IIRC, they just sent two more CBG's over there a week or two ago with one more on alert. Two MEU's are inroute aswell. I don't know if the B2's need to forward deploy. AFAIK, they flew from Whiteman AFB to their targets in Kosovo and back in a 40 hour marathon flight. Iraq is a little farther, but I don't know if the powers that be would want them forward deployed or the pilots sleep deprived before they reach their targets.

I keep seeing this, and my brain keeps rewritting it as US special forces in Northern IRELAND....

now that would be just plain wrong

The Yosemite Bear wrote:I keep seeing this, and my brain keeps rewritting it as US special forces in Northern IRELAND....

now that would be just plain wrong

Must secure the outlaw Irish beer and ale factories. We can no longer afford the Irish to have possession of these substances. All beer and ale found will be shipped over for "testing" in the US.

Knife wrote:

The Yosemite Bear wrote:I keep seeing this, and my brain keeps rewritting it as US special forces in Northern IRELAND....

now that would be just plain wrong

Must secure the outlaw Irish beer and ale factories. We can no longer afford the Irish to have possession of these substances. All beer and ale found will be shipped over for "testing" in the US.

Which would of course result in us getting our asses kicked and finally an end to the "Troubles"

I give Iraq as we know it another month of existence. By summer, the Iraqi dictatorship will be overthrown and a gov't will be set up there like we did in Afghanistan.

I seriously doubt that, after the Gulf, that Saddam is going to be able to do much, that is unless he pulls out some of his WMDs. I just pray that he doesn't, because that would just bring OUR nukes down on him. Wouldn't surprise me if this next war will become the third use of nuclear weapons in anger if he pulls a stunt like that.

Hey (For those who would know), why isn't Coyote back yet, and what unit was he with exactly? He should have returned from his exercises by now IIRC. Do you think they're actually using his reserve unit as basesitters for some active-duty unit being sent to the gulf? I understand that's often done during deployments.

I wouldn't be suprised if there are Green Berets in country. One of their mandates is to train opposition forces. As to CIA agents being there, that is no suprise. They've been in there ever since the last war.

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:Hey (For those who would know), why isn't Coyote back yet, and what unit was he with exactly? He should have returned from his exercises by now IIRC. Do you think they're actually using his reserve unit as basesitters for some active-duty unit being sent to the gulf? I understand that's often done during deployments.

*shrug* Could be anything from a work up, to an extended training session, to a glitch in transportation. The possibility of him "babysitting" on a base might be the answer too.

Some port security Coast Guard Reserve units were activated this week too. One of them from here in the Bay Area.

War will come at the end of Feb or the the beginning of March, IMO.

NF_Utvol wrote:I give Iraq as we know it another month of existence. By summer, the Iraqi dictatorship will be overthrown and a gov't will be set up there like we did in Afghanistan.

I seriously doubt that, after the Gulf, that Saddam is going to be able to do much, that is unless he pulls out some of his WMDs. I just pray that he doesn't, because that would just bring OUR nukes down on him. Wouldn't surprise me if this next war will become the third use of nuclear weapons in anger if he pulls a stunt like that.

Depends on what he does and how effective they are. In the last war, the plan was to retaliate against chemical weapons by breaking the dams on the Tigris and Euphrates and flooding Baghdad, rather than nuking the place.

I suddenly have this image of Saddam running around in his palace as the Tigris and Euphrates flood the city around him, ala The Two Towers

HemlockGrey wrote:I suddenly have this image of Saddam running around in his palace as the Tigris and Euphrates flood the city around him, ala The Two Towers

Quite possibul actually. Blowing the dams on both rivers was parto f the planned US response to an Iraqi WMD attack during Destert Storm. We'd also have used a couple tac nukes though.