Russia not to send troops to Iraq

[Robbien]

MOSCOW, July 20 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Defence Ministry has categorically dismissed the possibility of sending a Russian military contingent to Iraq at the request of the U.S. administration.

“Our stance on that issue, stated earlier, remains invariable: Russian military won’t be sent either to Iraq or to Afghanistan,” the press secretary of the Russian defence minister, Vyacheslav Sedov, told Tass on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has repeatedly stated that Moscow will under no circumstances put at risk the lives of its soldiers and officers in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also dismissed U.S. media reports, maintaining that Moscow and Washington are engaged in negotiations on the dispatch of Russian military to Iraq in exchange for economic concessions.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=1054638&PageNum=0

[DivinBreuvage]

1. I have a question for people who are familiar with Russian politics

I don't know how the balance of power sorts out over there. Which of the following three cases, in your opinion, is the most likely?

1) Putin has come to a decision and the Defense Ministry is issuing the statement because it is "on the same page";

2) The Defense Minister can refuse to send troops regardless of what Putin wants;

3) Putin can force the Defense Minister to send troops regardless of what the Defense Minister wants.

[Robbien]

3. Not real familiar with Russian politics

but I have read that Sergei Ivanov, the defense minister in the article, is one of Mr. Putin's confidantes. And Mr. Putin is currently dismissing some of the old guard military heads in his attempt to gain control of the military.

Don't know which way this will work out though.

[Krupskaya]

4. After last month...

...with the attack in Chechnya, they might have more pressing concerns on their minds.

[Robbien]

6. Just read an article where Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin

and three or four others were fired because of the failed attacks on the rebels in Chechnya. Mr Putin may have used Chechnya as a pretext to dismiss Kvashnin since Mr. Putin and Ivanov had a hard time handling Kvashnin.

I believe NATO is uppermost in Putin's mind. But what do I know.

[CWebster]

2. Yet, Putin recently backed the WMD claim

In the real world, obviously not enough of a threat to the Motherland, but it sure does put the US in a situation similar to the one Russia was trapped in (when the US was backing the mujahadeen) in Afghanistan.

[0007]

5. The other day the propaganda was that Russia was planning

on sending 40,000 troopers to help junior out of his mess in Iraq.

Who makes this shit up?

[Sporadicus]

7. A Possibility

Russia may have been planning to send the troops, but saber-rattling by * concerning Iran may have prompted Putin to reconsider. Imagine if * pulled most troops from Iraq for its campaign against Iran...Putin would have been left holding the bag in Iraq. Haven't heard this reported anywhere...just my WAG (wild-ass guess).

[Jacobin]

8. They've recently ended their empire phase

and are still smarting from the after-effects.

I don't think they want to play.

[Voice_of_Europe]

9. Russia? Why should they?

Afghanistan:
The Afghanis would certainly "welcome" more russian troops for another round of fighting in their land... lol... Russia is still a red flag to Afghanis

Iraq:
Why would Russia want to send troops to Iraq?
Russia has soooo much oil themselves and they only started to reinvest in their own oil fields.

[daleo]

10. Bush admin probably was quoting a Russian undergrad

Overhead in a pub in Moscow, commenting on a paper he was thinking of writing. That's good enough for Bushco.