lennart
11-12-02, 23:03
Thousands of Iraqis Want to Fight Saddam
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002
WASHINGTON – Thousands of expatriate Iraqis all over the world have expressed interest in a U.S. program to train them for fighting Saddam Hussein, the State Department said Tuesday.
President Bush on Monday authorized using $92 million for providing military training and facilities to Iraqi opposition groups.
The money is given under a law passed by Congress in 1998. Under this law, Congress had authorized $97 million. The U.S. administration had already allocated $5 million for funding Iraqi opposition groups, of which about a million had already been spent.
In the past two years, the Department of Defense, which oversees this program, trained 140 Iraqi opposition members under the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998.
But this year the Bush administration decided to expand the program and asked Iraqi opposition groups to send a list of their members available for training.
'Gratified With the Response'
"We're quite gratified with the response we had under that," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker. "Thousands of expatriate Iraqis all over the world have expressed an interest in participating."
Reeker rejected reports that Washington has asked the opposition Iraqi National Congress to be the sole intermediary for assistance to other groups.
"Under the plan as I understand ... each group is going to coordinate with the Department of Defense through a committee made up of representatives of a number of groups," said Reeker.
Besides INC, he said, Kurdish Democratic Party, Movement for Constitutional Monarchy, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq are designated under the Iraq Liberation Act.
Most of these groups have been working with the United States for some time, but the Iran-based SCIRI is a new addition to the list.
United Press International reported Monday that the Bush administration has approved military funding for six Iraqi opposition groups, including an Iran-based organization that maintains close ties to that country's hard-line Islamic clerical leadership.
The group, known as Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, is an umbrella for Shia Islamist groups including some that have in the past coordinated activities with Iran's intelligence services. The group maintains an office in Tehran that is paid for by the Iranian government.
Under an order signed by Bush on Saturday, SCIRI and five other Iraqi opposition groups would be eligible for $92 million worth of military training and defense articles from the Pentagon, authorized by the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act.
"The Iranians have allowed SCIRI to take some positions different than the government. That said the group is never going to go against Iranian policy, and is dependent on Iranian financial and logistical support," Patrick Clawson, the deputy director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told UPI.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/10/182148.shtml
Het is toch werkelijk niet te geloven.
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002
WASHINGTON – Thousands of expatriate Iraqis all over the world have expressed interest in a U.S. program to train them for fighting Saddam Hussein, the State Department said Tuesday.
President Bush on Monday authorized using $92 million for providing military training and facilities to Iraqi opposition groups.
The money is given under a law passed by Congress in 1998. Under this law, Congress had authorized $97 million. The U.S. administration had already allocated $5 million for funding Iraqi opposition groups, of which about a million had already been spent.
In the past two years, the Department of Defense, which oversees this program, trained 140 Iraqi opposition members under the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998.
But this year the Bush administration decided to expand the program and asked Iraqi opposition groups to send a list of their members available for training.
'Gratified With the Response'
"We're quite gratified with the response we had under that," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker. "Thousands of expatriate Iraqis all over the world have expressed an interest in participating."
Reeker rejected reports that Washington has asked the opposition Iraqi National Congress to be the sole intermediary for assistance to other groups.
"Under the plan as I understand ... each group is going to coordinate with the Department of Defense through a committee made up of representatives of a number of groups," said Reeker.
Besides INC, he said, Kurdish Democratic Party, Movement for Constitutional Monarchy, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq are designated under the Iraq Liberation Act.
Most of these groups have been working with the United States for some time, but the Iran-based SCIRI is a new addition to the list.
United Press International reported Monday that the Bush administration has approved military funding for six Iraqi opposition groups, including an Iran-based organization that maintains close ties to that country's hard-line Islamic clerical leadership.
The group, known as Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, is an umbrella for Shia Islamist groups including some that have in the past coordinated activities with Iran's intelligence services. The group maintains an office in Tehran that is paid for by the Iranian government.
Under an order signed by Bush on Saturday, SCIRI and five other Iraqi opposition groups would be eligible for $92 million worth of military training and defense articles from the Pentagon, authorized by the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act.
"The Iranians have allowed SCIRI to take some positions different than the government. That said the group is never going to go against Iranian policy, and is dependent on Iranian financial and logistical support," Patrick Clawson, the deputy director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told UPI.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/10/182148.shtml
Het is toch werkelijk niet te geloven.