Putin considering 40,000 troops for Iraq

[Master of Ossus]

Having even a few thousand Russian troops in Iraq would be an important symbolic move, though, in that it really would become an international effort of a significant scale. That would make it worth it in and of itself. "We opposed the Americans on the decision to go to war, but now we're there to help out if we have anything to offer."

[Omega-13]

the more i think about this
half of me wants the russians to storm into Fallujah with their T-90's and blow the place apart,

and then on the other side,
i want them to stay in moscow cause of civi's

[President Sharky]

If Putin does do it, I'm wondering what he's going to want in return.

Insurgent headz, there can be no doubt about that.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki]

Could they even sustain the continued deployment of 40000 troops without breaking the bank? That's close to 4 Russkie divisions of men.

As a sidenote, one wonders what units they would call up for such a thing if they are really going to do it. They wouldn't want to make asses out of themselves in front of the world community, so sending the garden variety Understrength Conscript Divsion won't work. So what are they going to do instead?

[Master of Ossus]

If Putin does do it, I'm wondering what he's going to want in return.

Insurgent headz, there can be no doubt about that.

In an odd way, that might be true. They might send troops in exchange for western governments agreeing to extradite some of the Chechen rebels that have been previously granted asylum. They would probably want more than that, but that might be a starting point.

[Vympel]

This was disavowed by the Russian government back when it was reported- check the date of the article.

Oh, and people should learn the difference between disciplined Russian soldiers as peacekeepers in a foreign land and for the most part conscript Russian soldiers fighting insurgents on their own soil- no one ever complained about Russian brutality in Bosnia or Kosovo, for example. There's no guarantee that any Russian troops in Iraq will be brutal bastards. But then again, there's no guarantee they won't be either. I guess that's the reason why come 2005, there will be no conscripts in Chechnya, just professional soldiery.

[Falkenhayn]

Surprised that no one has gone for a battalion's worth of Spetznaz instead of that now debunked contingent.

Not that I'd want to see Al-Sadr's head in a trash bag or anything.

[Exmoor Cat]

THe dispersed addition of a Russian battalion per brigade over there might be more attractive and less risky. The irony of seeing Russian troops under Polish command has had me chuckling all day.