I've always wanted to say something like that.
Note the second half of the article. Apparently the US is going to get involved in helping yet another despotic regime.
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Nepal Rebels Attack Security Post; 100 Dead
May 8, 2002 9:09 am EST
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) - Maoist guerrillas and government forces in Nepal fought a pitched battle that killed scores Wednesday, after a rebel raid that coincided with an offer of U.S. aid to the Himalayan kingdom.
The Maoists attacked a security post in their remote stronghold of Gam in the west, where troops killed up to 400 guerrillas last week in the biggest single offensive of the six-year rebellion.
"The raid came about midnight and we seem to have lost heavily," one army officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Communications have been cut and bad weather has prevented rescue helicopters from landing, senior army officers told Reuters, adding reinforcements were on the way.
"A large number of terrorists attacked a base using automatic weapons looted during recent raids on security agencies," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Fierce fighting between the security forces and the rebels is continuing," a ministry spokesman said in a statement but gave no casualty figures on either side.
But army officials said up to 100 rebels, police and soldiers were killed in the fierce firefight, about 450 km west of the capital, Kathmandu.
Interior Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka told Reuters in Kathmandu the government was awaiting detailed casualty figures.
"There were more than 140 soldiers and police officers at Gam and we have lost contact with them," he said, adding he could not say how many had died.
At least some police and soldiers were known to have survived the clash before communications were lost, the army said.
BUSH OFFERS HELP
At least four policemen and 14 rebels also died in separate fighting 250 miles east of Kathmandu late Tuesday and soldiers shot dead four guerrillas in another clash.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the rebellion aimed at toppling the impoverished Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy and installing a communist republic.
President Bush told Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Washington Tuesday the United States would help Nepal against the rebels, Deuba said after the talks.
Neither side has said what form that help might take, but Nepal is seeking guns, ammunition, money and hardware -- including transport and combat helicopters -- from abroad.
The rebels intensified their campaign after last June's palace massacre in which popular king Birendra and most other members of the royal family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who later shot himself dead.
Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November. The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.
U.S. military experts visited Nepal recently to assess the impoverished South Asian nation's military needs and to gauge what support Washington could provide, officials said. The Bush administration is seeking $20 million from Congress to help Kathmandu fight the guerrillas.
The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation that is home to Mount Everest and draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year.


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Nepal Rebels Attack Security Post; 100 Dead
May 8, 2002 9:09 am EST
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) - Maoist guerrillas and government forces in Nepal fought a pitched battle that killed scores Wednesday, after a rebel raid that coincided with an offer of U.S. aid to the Himalayan kingdom.
The Maoists attacked a security post in their remote stronghold of Gam in the west, where troops killed up to 400 guerrillas last week in the biggest single offensive of the six-year rebellion.
"The raid came about midnight and we seem to have lost heavily," one army officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Communications have been cut and bad weather has prevented rescue helicopters from landing, senior army officers told Reuters, adding reinforcements were on the way.
"A large number of terrorists attacked a base using automatic weapons looted during recent raids on security agencies," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Fierce fighting between the security forces and the rebels is continuing," a ministry spokesman said in a statement but gave no casualty figures on either side.
But army officials said up to 100 rebels, police and soldiers were killed in the fierce firefight, about 450 km west of the capital, Kathmandu.
Interior Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka told Reuters in Kathmandu the government was awaiting detailed casualty figures.
"There were more than 140 soldiers and police officers at Gam and we have lost contact with them," he said, adding he could not say how many had died.
At least some police and soldiers were known to have survived the clash before communications were lost, the army said.
BUSH OFFERS HELP
At least four policemen and 14 rebels also died in separate fighting 250 miles east of Kathmandu late Tuesday and soldiers shot dead four guerrillas in another clash.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the rebellion aimed at toppling the impoverished Hindu kingdom's constitutional monarchy and installing a communist republic.
President Bush told Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Washington Tuesday the United States would help Nepal against the rebels, Deuba said after the talks.
Neither side has said what form that help might take, but Nepal is seeking guns, ammunition, money and hardware -- including transport and combat helicopters -- from abroad.
The rebels intensified their campaign after last June's palace massacre in which popular king Birendra and most other members of the royal family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who later shot himself dead.
Nepal has given its army sweeping powers under a state of emergency to crush the guerrillas since they walked out of peace talks in November. The Maoists offered to renew the talks last week but Deuba rejected this and demanded they surrender.
U.S. military experts visited Nepal recently to assess the impoverished South Asian nation's military needs and to gauge what support Washington could provide, officials said. The Bush administration is seeking $20 million from Congress to help Kathmandu fight the guerrillas.
The violence has wrecked the aid-dependent economy and driven away tourists, who are a key source of income to the picturesque nation that is home to Mount Everest and draws thousands of backpackers and mountain climbers each year.
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