Russian General: Iraqi People Are Devoted to Saddam

["D OC" <donaloc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Russian Major-General Vadim Orlov was an observer of the Iraqi referendum

Major-General Vadim Orlov, a deputy of the Russian State Duma from the
Ulyanovsk
region was staying in Iraq during the referendum pertaining to the
prolongation
of Saddam Hussein's authority. Orlov was one of the Russian observers
for that important arrangement.

snip...

Vadim Orlov said that the Iraqi people wanted to show their unity and
devotion
to Saddam Hussein in front of the international observers. Deputy Orlov was
conspicuous against the background of other observers for his uniform. Iraqi
officers talked to him in a straightforward way. According to Orlov,
everybody
in Iraq realized that the war with America was inevitable. Vadim Orlov
believes
that the war will start until the middle of December of the current year.

In the words from the Russian general, Americans are not interested in the
Iraqi
mass destruction weapon. They want the Iraqi oil and the dominating role in
the Persian Gulf region. If the USA realizes its plans and sets the price of
a barrel of oil on the level of twelve or fourteen dollars, then Russia is
going
to be in trouble.

The general said that Iraq hoped for Russia's help, since the interests
of the two countries were basically the same. They hope for the help, but
they
get ready for war too. Orlov mentioned that all oil towers had been already
mined. The American aggression is likely to result in an ecological disaster
as well.

Sergey Nikolayev
PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/23/38543.html


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