Fwd from: [SOG_ModWar] some interesting reading

[Jeff Pawlowski <blackeagleblackeagle@xxxxxxxxx>]

Don't know how much of this is real or true.  I'll need to get some secondary
sources and there isn't any cite information.

Jeff Pawlowski

--- scott_n_houtex <inago_montoya@yahoo.com> wrote:
> To: SOG_ModWar@yahoogroups.com
> From: "scott_n_houtex" <inago_montoya@yahoo.com>
> Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 14:26:38 -0000
> Subject: [SOG_ModWar] some interesting reading
> 
> June 21, 2002 
> Notes from the Pentagon
> 
> China-trained Taliban
> China's military provided training for Afghanistan's Taliban militia and it=
> s al Qaeda supporters, according to a U.S. intelligence report.
> 
> The intelligence was obtained from anti-Taliban Afghan sources. It was surp=
> rising to U.S. analysts because China is a target of Islamic separatists, wh=
> o are known to have been trained in terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
> 
> The training of the Taliban forces took place before September 11. It was c=
> arried out in cooperation with Pakistan's ISI intelligence service, defense =
> officials told us.
> 
> The report, and others like it, was unwelcome news for some of the pro-Chin=
> a analysts within the U.S. government who are pushing the Bush administratio=
> n to adopt a more conciliatory posture toward the communist government in Be=
> ijing. These officials point to China's cooperation in the war on terrorism,=
>  which has included intelligence sharing of limited value.
> 
> U.S. intelligence officials do not know why the Chinese provided the milita=
> ry training to Islamic radicals. But some analysts believe it was an attempt=
>  to gain influence over the Taliban and al Qaeda.
> 
> Another theory is that the Chinese military training was a high-risk variat=
> ion on the Soviet deception operation in the 1920s known as the Trust. The o=
> peration created a false dissident organization in Russia. The group lured r=
> egime opponents back to Russia, where they were imprisonment or executed. Th=
> e Chinese training could have been part of an effort to identify some of the=
>  thousands of Uighurs in China's western Xinjiang province, who are working =
> with al Qaeda.
> 
> Evidence of Chinese military backing for the Taliban continues to surface. =
> Late last month, U.S. Army Special Forces troops discovered 30 HN-5s, the de=
> signation for Chinese-made SA-7s surface-to-air missiles, in southeastern Af=
> ghanistan.
> 
> Other intelligence reports indicated the Chinese shipped missiles to the Ta=
> liban after September 11. China's government has denied supporting al Qaeda =
> and the Taliban.
> 
> On Iraq
> The buzz in the Army is that units may begin deploying in stages to the Per=
> sian Gulf this fall for possible military action against Iraq. There are alr=
> eady more than the normal contingent of Army soldiers in Kuwait. The Pentago=
> n maintains the increased tempo has nothing to do with an invasion.
> 
> Some military planners are advocating a slow, disguised buildup of land for=
> ces and aircraft so as not to spark a pre-emptive strike by Saddam Hussein. =
> Planners fully expect Saddam to unleash all the weaponry at his disposal — i=
> ncluding chemical and biological warheads — if he feels his regime and his p=
> ower are at stake.
> 
> President Bush wants to topple Saddam before his first term ends, but has n=
> ot approved a war plan.
> 
> Go slow
> Pentagon acquisition officials have given the Marine Corps the go-ahead to =
> begin flight tests again on the V-22 Osprey. But naval sources tell us progr=
> am directors are starting very slow to ensure there is not another fatal acc=
> ident that would doom the helicopter-fixed-wing hybrid.
> 
> Marines are still focusing on reducing airframe vibrations and on pilot pro=
> ficiency, and may not begin the formal flight-test program until August.
> 
> "None of the pilots are current in the airplane," said one source. "They ar=
> e going super-safe, afraid if they have one more incident, the program will =
> be over, which I think it will be."
> 
> The Osprey may die even if restarted test flights go well. Defense Secretar=
> y Donald H. Rumsfeld and his aides are eyeing cuts in some major weapon syst=
> ems in the fiscal 2004 budget, which gets written inside the Pentagon this f=
> all. The V-22, say sources, is a prime target for cancellation, as budgeteer=
> s look to end shaky programs to save money for large procurement bills due l=
> ater this decade.
> 
> Vice President Richard B. Cheney tried to kill the Osprey troop-carrier 10 =
> years ago when he served as defense secretary in the first Bush administrati=
> on. Congress and the Corps balked, and Mr. Cheney relented. But Mr. Rumsfeld=
>  plays hardball, advising the president to veto defense bills he doesn't lik=
> e.
> 
> The Corps grounded the aircraft last year after two crashes that killed 23 =
> Marines.
> 
> L.A.-bound ships searched
> The U.S. Coast Guard stopped three or four freighters headed for the Los An=
> geles area earlier this month. The action was part of the FBI investigation =
> into intelligence reports that a group of up to 40 al Qaeda terrorists and a=
>  large weapons cache were headed to the United States.
> 
> The Coast Guard stopped the ships in the vicinity of Catalina Island, off t=
> he coast of Los Angeles. In each case, at least one U.S. official conducted =
> a search.
> 
> According to intelligence and law enforcement officials, the probe was trig=
> gered by intelligence that stated al Qaeda fighters were aboard a freighter =
> that left an unidentified Middle East port last month. The plan called for u=
> nloading the al Qaeda fighters and their weapons onto six or seven small boa=
> ts near Catalina, which would then infiltrate the terrorists into Los Angele=
> s.
> 
> A Coast Guard spokesman declined to comment, citing a policy of not talking=
>  about "security measures" taken by the service.
> 
> French not spoken
> Al Qaeda terrorists now imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been playi=
> ng games with U.S. military interrogators during questioning sessions.
> 
> The military has sent language specialists fluent in the languages spoken b=
> y the detainees, including Arabic and Urdu.
> 
> However, one prisoner confounded an interrogator recently by switching lang=
> uages and answering questions in French. The questioner did not speak the la=
> nguage.
> 
> Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters earlier this week that =
> the terrorists being held at Gitmo, as the U.S. Navy base there is called, a=
> re tough, but the questioning is producing some results.
> 
> "Well, first of all, appreciate the fact that these are pros," Mr. Rumsfeld=
>  said. "A lot of these people are very well-trained. They know how to deal w=
> ith interrogation. They are clever, and they lie through their teeth, and th=
> ey tell different stories at different times. And you begin piecing things t=
> ogether."
> 
> Dish network
> Seasoned operators tell us it's no big deal that some dish customers can, f=
> rom time to time, tune into images from the unmanned Predator beamed across =
> the world via satellites.
> 
> "In Europe, we did use commercial satellites for routine UAV [unmanned airb=
> orne vehicles] in order to save bandwidth for higher-priority classified-ops=
>  traffic," said one military source. "When we run high-interest/classified U=
> AV operations, we exclusively used encrypted military nets."
> 
> We assume the encrypted signals would include the times the CIA has used th=
> e Predator as a killer, remotely firing Hellfire missiles at top terrorists =
> hiding in Afghanistan.
> 
> Fidel's fandango
> The Western media has a fascination with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro that s=
> ometimes borders on infatuation, say anti-Castro Cuban Americans.
> 
> Take for example, they say, Mr. Castro's forced public demonstrations in Cu=
> ba this week in favor of continuing his hard-line communist state.
> 
> Our man in Havana tells us he saw no reporting on the fact that "demonstrat=
> ors" must check in a hour beforehand with government representatives. Failur=
> e to appear has resulted in lost pay or lost jobs.
> 
> Noting some Western pictures of demonstrators, the source said, "There is e=
> ssentially no one chanting or smiling or doing much of anything? They are si=
> mply being where they are supposed to be."
> 
> Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough are Pentagon reporters. Gertz can be reach=
> ed at 202/ 636-3274 or by e-mail at bgertz@washingtontimes.com. Scarborough =
> can be reached at 202/636-3208 or by e-mail at rscarborough@washingtontimes.=
> com.
> 
> 


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