There's a four-day series of articles that is currently running in the TOLEDO BLADE (October 19-22, 2003) on the atrocities committed by the U.S. soldiers who served with Tiger Force in South Vietnam back in 1967 (see
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031020/SRTIGERFORCE/110190169 ). In honor of that series, I’ve posted a brief of another ariticle, sent to me, below.
It’s about contemporary Iraq, of course---not South Vietnam some 36 years ago. But it sure seems that the U.S. military’s old TIGER FORCE still has its work cut out for it.
Briefs are found on the homepage, but registration required:
http://www.worldmarketsanalysis.com/wma_sample_pages/site_pages/WMCAFSampleDailyAnalysis.htmWorld Markets Analysis
October 13, 2003
SECTION: IN BRIEF
HEADLINE: Saboteurs Hit Iraq's Northern Pipelines Again
Saboteurs have once again attacked Iraq's northern pipelines. A small blaze was started on Friday (10 October) after assailants threw hand grenades at a disused portion of an oil pipeline outside Kirkuk. Later in the day, AFP reported, a bomb planted on a pipeline linking the al-Debs oilfields to the city of Kirkuk, caused a massive explosion, and a parallel line exploded soon thereafter due to heat from the initial blaze. The fires were eventually snuffed after 20 hours. It is unclear what sort of impact the blasts have had on Iraq's ability to pump crude but they are undoubtedly a harbinger of things to come. The occupying forces are planning to reopen the export pipeline to Turkey later in the month, which has been out of action following a series of attacks (see Iraq: 18 August 2003: Iraqi Pipeline Attack Dashes Hopes of Renewed Kirkuk Exports and Iraq: 13 June 2003: Twin Bomb Attacks Hit Iraq's Main Export Pipeline). The latest incidents have highlighted the fact that the security situation is still far from being under control, suggesting that the export line remains quite vulnerable.
The US military has recently revived a Vietnam-era unit to help protect Iraq's oil pipelines. The US military is planning to deploy airborne snipers who will patrol the country's pipelines in US Black Hawk helicopters in an effort to defeat the saboteurs. 'Tiger Force', as it is known, was last used in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and '70s but has now been revived as the US looks at different ways to protect the pipelines. Significance: The policy to use tribes and local police to help protect Iraq's pipelines has clearly failed. It is now a question of whether Tiger Force will be able to do the job any better. Given the vast pipeline network that traverses Iraq, it seems to be an impossible mission. Further attacks on the pipelines and oil personnel will undoubtedly slash hopes of exporting an extra 800,000 bpd of Kirkuk crude by year-end.
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