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"As insurgent and terrorist violence in western Anbar province continues to fall, a small band of U.S. Marines at Al Asad Air Base are increasingly drawing their beads on bands of oil smugglers who nip across the border to Syria to sell purloined oil or who hawk refined fuel from Syria on the Iraqi black market.
They're called Aero-Scouts. And though their operations in the area known as AO-Denver may not be counter-insurgency warfare in the narrowest sense, they're an important element in the broader strategy to help bring security and stability.
First, smuggling of oil and refined fuel undercuts Iraq's central government. Second, it may also be helping fund insurgent and terrorist operations. A classified U.S. government report disclosed by The New York Times last year estimated insurgents raked in a minimum of $25 million annually as a result of the activity nationwide."
Feature: Marines target smugglers
They're called Aero-Scouts. And though their operations in the area known as AO-Denver may not be counter-insurgency warfare in the narrowest sense, they're an important element in the broader strategy to help bring security and stability.
First, smuggling of oil and refined fuel undercuts Iraq's central government. Second, it may also be helping fund insurgent and terrorist operations. A classified U.S. government report disclosed by The New York Times last year estimated insurgents raked in a minimum of $25 million annually as a result of the activity nationwide."
Feature: Marines target smugglers