DoD Report on Captured Iraqi Documents

[TheMercenary]

DoD Report on Captured Iraqi Documents

Posted By Steven Aftergood On March 20, 2008 @ 10:33 am In Secrecy | 10 Comments

A Defense Department-sponsored report that examined captured Iraqi documents for indications of links between Saddam Hussein and terrorist organizations is now available online.

The five-volume report affirmed that there was “no ’smoking gun’ (i.e., direct connection) between Saddam’s Iraq and al Qaeda.” But it also said there was “strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism.”

Although the report was publicly released on March 13, the Department of Defense declined to publish it online, offering instead to provide copies on disk. The full five-volume study has now been posted on the Federation of American Scientists web site. See “Iraqi Perspectives Project: Saddam and Terrorism: Emerging Insights from Captured Iraqi Documents,” Institute for Defense Analyses, November 2007, redacted and released March 2008.

The study was first reported prior to release by Warren P. Strobel of McClatchy Newspapers. The first of the five volumes was previously posted on the ABC News web site. The latter volumes include hundreds of pages of captured Iraqi documents, declassified and translated into English.

The Defense Intelligence Agency “made every effort to balance national security concerns, requirements of law, and the needs of an informed democracy and focused the redactions to the necessary minimum,” the report states.

The Iraqi documents themselves are an eclectic, uneven bunch.

One of them, a fifty-page Iraqi “intelligence” analysis, disparages the austerely conservative Wahhabi school of Islam by claiming that its eighteenth century founder, Ibn ‘Abd al Wahhab, had ancestors who were Jews.

In what must be the only laugh-out-loud line in the generally dismal five-volume report, the Iraqi analysis states that Ibn ‘Abd al Wahhab’s grandfather’s true name was not “Sulayman” but “Shulman.”

“Tawran confirms that Sulayman, the grandfather of the sheikh, is (Shulman); he is Jew from the merchants of the city of Burstah in Turkey, he had left it and settled in Damascus, grew his beard, and wore the Muslim turban, but was thrown out for being voodoo” (at page 20 of 56).

The analysis, produced by the Air Defense Security System of Iraq’s General Military Intelligence Directorate, is not a very reliable guide to Islamic or Jewish history, though it may explain something about Iraq’s air defenses.

“The Birth of Al-Wahabi Movement and Its Historic Roots” appears in volume 5 of the Defense Department report and is also directly available in this extract (large PDF).

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The five-volume report affirmed that there was “no ’smoking gun’ (i.e., direct connection) between Saddam’s Iraq and al Qaeda.” But it also said there was “strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism.”

Of course by that definition, any number of countries would have had an excuse to invade us based on CIA activities.

(As a note, the author is drawing some conclusions that are too direct. The truth is a little fuzzier).

Example

Indonesia — The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Sukarno with a military coup. The CIA has been trying to eliminate Sukarno since 1957, using everything from attempted assassination to sexual intrigue, for nothing more than his declaring neutrality in the Cold War. His successor, General Suharto, will massacre between 500,000 to 1 million civilians accused of being "communist." The CIA supplies the names of countless suspects.

From a the NYTimes:

In fact, the collection of documents are not so juicy as to show C.I.A. involvement in the coup attempt or in the specific events that allowed Suharto to emerge as the winner afterwards. They do show an American effort after the coup attempt to encourage the Indonesian military's wholesale effort to wipe out the Communist opposition. Generally accepted estimates from historians range from 300,000 to one million dead in the killing rampage.

Generally, a country's covert intelligence involvement in questionable associations is not cause for invasion. New Zealand did not attempt to invade France for blowing up a ship in their harbor. China did not attack the U.S. for blowing up their embassy .

The US never found that Iraq was harboring Al Qaeda as was Afghanistan, and never found any weapons program that was a threat to the US. The alleged ties and links found could probably be found in most Middle East countries, including our allies and oil suppliers.

Still not worth 4,000 lives and 1-4 trillion dollars.

[TheMercenary]

The strike on the Embassy is a poor example, it remains a controversial subject. The supplying of an outdated map hardly is evidence of a conspiracy. Anyway the US did not bomb it, NATO did.

Further examples of US wrong doing in the world before many reforms were put in place after Viet Nam are other bad examples of why we should or should not take military action anywhere in the world to protect our interests, Iraq not withstanding that test.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The strike on the Embassy is a poor example, it remains a controversial subject. The supplying of an outdated map hardly is evidence of a conspiracy. Anyway the US did not bomb it, NATO did.

Further examples of US wrong doing in the world before many reforms were put in place after Viet Nam are other bad examples of why we should or should not take military action anywhere in the world to protect our interests, Iraq not withstanding that test.

Post-Vietnam we armed and trained insurgents in Afghanistan and Nicaragua. We didn't do this because they were corrupt and sometimes brutal regimes, they were, but because they were corrupt and sometimes brutal regimes that we considered socialist or communist.

Protecting their interests in Afghanistan is one of the reasons the Soviets went broke in the 1980's. The US could probably have fought and secured Afghanistan in a one-front war. As it is, the resources we are putting into Iraq are much more than we are dedicating to Afghanistan.

[TheMercenary]

I don't have many problems with what we have done since Viet Nam with a few exceptions. Otherwise I agree.

[deadbeater]

Then you agree with the US propping up Osama bin Laden in the Soviet-Afghan War?

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by richlevy

New Zealand did not attempt to invade France for blowing up a ship in their harbor.

This is an interesting read if you want to know what actually happened after the French blew up the Rainbow Warrior.

WARRANTS

24.7.85. Sophie and Alain Turenge appear in court charged with murdering Fernando Pereira, conspiring with each other and with others to commit arson and wilfully damaging the Rainbow Warrior by means of explosives.

26.7.85. The tests of the Ouvea scraping come back from the laboratory, they are positive. It was this vessel that bought the explosive to New Zealand. Warrants are issued for the arrest of the three Ouvea crew interviewed on Norfold Island. The warrants cite charges of murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson.

As a result of the map found on the Ouvea, the Police and the public learn that a Frenchwoman, calling herself Frederique Bonlieu had attached herself to Greenpeace, gathering details about the harbour and the Rainbow Warrior. The woman is now working on archaeological site in Israel. A New Zealand detective plans to go there.

Alain Tonel and Jaques Camurier leave New Zealand from Auckland.

31.7.85. Christine Cabon (Frederique Bonlieu) disappears from Israel.

Punishment

8.8.85. Almost a month after the bombing, the French media have started investigating possible links with the secret service (DGSE). The growing speculation prompts the French Government to appoint Counsellor of State, Bernard Tricot to enquire into the allegations.

9.8.85. President Mitterand of France condemns the Rainbow Warrior bombing as a "criminal attack" and promises stern punishment if allegations that French agents were involved prove to be true.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, Mr Mitterand writes: "I intend that this affair be treated with the greatest severity and that your country be able to count on Frances full cooperation."

22.8.85. Detective Superintendant Galbraith is told by French authorities that Sophie Turenge is really Captain Dominique Prieur, a French Army Officer based in Paris.

23.8.85. DGSE sources confirm that the woman known in Auckland as Bonlieu is really Christine Cabon, a Lieutenant in the DGSEs intelligence wing.

26.8.85. The so called Tricot Report is realeased. It says there is no evidence that the French Government ordered the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. The report confirms that Dominique Prieur is a DGSE agent. So is her companion Alain Turenge, now identified as Commander Alain Mafart. Also confirmed as DGSE agents are the three Ouvea Crew members who have suddenly now appeared in Paris. They are named as Rolande Verge, Jean-Michel Barcelo and Gerald Andries.

Authorisation

Mr Tricot says the five agents were authorised to infiltrate Greenpeace and to consider ways to counter its activities, but not to carry out any actions. "At the present state of my information" he believes the two agents held in Auckland are innocent.

The report and its implications that the agents were passive observers, and had no part in the bombing, is widely slated as a white wash. So hostile is the reaction that Mr Tricot tells reporters he has not excluded the possibility he was deceived. And the French prosecutors office in Paris says the three Ouvea crew members will not be extradited to New Zealand because they have French Nationality.

Fresh Investigation

28.8.85. The French Prime Minister, Mr Fabius, says: "If it were to appear that criminal acts have been committed by French nationals, judicial action will be immediately exercised......."........Our condemnation is not, as has sometimes been rumoured, a condemnation against the poor execution of a questionable project. It is an absolute condemnation against a criminal act. The guilty, whoever they be, have to pay for this crime."

5.9.85. Mr Fabius orders a fresh investigation into the French links with the bombing, saying he wants the truth.

21.9.85. The French Defence Minister, Mr Charles Hernu, resigns and the DGSE head, Admiral Pierre Lacoste, is sacked after the Admiral refuses to reply to questions from Mr Hernu about the affair.

Writing to President Mitternad, Mr Fabius says: "I have always believed that in the affair of the attack against the Rainbow Warrior, the French Government should follow one rule, search for the truth."

23.9.85. Mr Fabius calls an urgent press conference and announces: "Agents of the DGSE sank the boat. They acted on orders."

"The people who merely carried out the act, must, of course, be exempted from blame; it would be unnacceptable to expose members of the military, who only obeyed orders and who, in the past, have sometimes carried out very dangerous missions on behalf of our country."

Extradition

4.11.85. In a last minute shock, Mafart and Prieur change their pleas and admit lesser charges of manslaughter and wilful damage. The pair spend less than an hour in the Old High Court in Auckland, which is crowded with foreign journalists awaiting the expected depositions hearing on the murder and arson charges.

22.11.85. Marfart and Prieur are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in New Zealand. Paris newspapers immediately call for an early extradition of the pair, while Mr Lange is silent on the sentence.

In passing the sentence, the Chief Justice, Sir Ronald Davidson, says: "People who come to this country and commit terrorist activities cannot expect to have a short holiday at the expense of our Government and return home heroes."

Sanctions

27.11.85. Just days after the sentences are handed down, the first calls come from within France for sanctions against New Zealand products if the two agents are not sent home.

30.1.86. Talks between the French and New Zealand Governments for compensation for the bombing reach a stalemate as the French Government presses for the return of the agents.

1.2.86. The masts from the Rainbow Warrior are erected at the Dargaville Maritime Museum.

21.2.86. France puts a partial ban on New Zealands $8.5 million lambs brains exports. Exporters, complain of difficulties in having their meat and vegetable products accepted in New Caledonia.

3.3.86. French retaliation escalates, a wide variety of products are now caught in the trade ban - fish, canned kiwifruit, urea and lamb.

1.4.86. Jaques Chirac, head of a right wing Gaullist party and a strong critic of New Zealand, becomes Prime Minister of France.

Mediation

7.4.86. Former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau is suggested as a possible mediator in the growing row between New Zealand and Fance but rejects the proposal.

1.6.86. The Dutch Prime Minister steps into the dispute with the suggestion of independant arbitration as a possible solution to the deadlock.

17.6.86. United Nations Secretary General, Mr Xavier Perez de Cuellar, agrees to become mediator between the French Government and New Zealand.

20.6.86. The New Zealand Government agrees to take the dispute to Mr Perez de Cuellar. Both New Zealand and France agree to abidy by his ruling.

Sequel

July 1986. Almost a year later, in the terms of the ruling, France paid the New Zealand Government $13 million in compensation. Also in terms of the ruling, Prieur and Mafart were released by New Zealand to spend three years confined to the island of Hao, in French Polynesea. Joel Prieur, Dominiques husband if made Head of Security at Hao Atoll.

12.12.87. The hull of the Rainbow Warrior is sunk of the Cavalli Islands in Northland. The site is marked with a permanent buoy, so that divers may come and examine the ship until such time as she rusts away. On the hills above the bay a memorial is erected, at the instigation of Dover Samuels, to commemorate the ship, the aims of Greenpeace and Fernando Pereira.

14.12.87. Alain Mafart repatriated to France due to a mysterious stomach ailment, which can not be treated on Hao.

17.3.88. In a letter to a friend, Dominique Prieur comments she is still handling the situation at Hao, but it will not be for much longer.

29.3.88. Alain Mafat appointed to the College of War (L Ecole de Guerre) probably for a two year course before taking on a Staff position.

6.5.88. Dominique and Joel Prieur are repatriated home to France. Dominiques father is reportedly suffering from terminal cancer.

26.11.91. Swiss authorities arrest Gerald Andries, one of the Ouveas crew in Basle, Switzerland, on the warrant issued in 1985, and advise the New Zealand Police. He is to be held while New Zealand Police assemble a case for extradition.

5.12.91. Pressure is again applied from France, aimed at crippling the New Zealand exports. The French claim the settlement covered all the agents not just Mafar and Prieur. They aim to stop the attempt to extradite Gerald Andries.

18.12.91. New Zealand Government drops the attempt to extradite Gerald Andries, to stand trial in New Zealand. Eighty-five affidavits had been sworn by the Police and witnesses and the case was nearly prepared, however political pressure was intense and the former Labour Prime Minister backed the Governments retreat on the case.

A Greenpeace Organisation spokesman described the New Zealand Governments decision as spineless.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by deadbeater

Then you agree with the US propping up Osama bin Laden in the Soviet-Afghan War?

Yes, absolutely. It was a means to an end. Alliances shift with policy.

[tw]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

I don't have many problems with what we have done since Viet Nam with a few exceptions. Otherwise I agree.

TheMercenary also approves of America abandoning American Marines on the island of Koh Tang in a misguided and poorly planned rescue of the Mayaguez. (Meanwhile the Mayaguez was not even there.) Or that Marines in Lebanon were not permitted to load their rifles even on guard duty outside that Marine Barracks where 200 were killed (more genius by Lt Col Oliver North). The car bomber drove right past Marine guards who had no loaded guns. Or the mining of Nicaragua where resulting international embarrassment forced the US to remove those mines. Tenth Mountain Division was not permitted to find bin Laden in Afghanistan. Why did we discover bin Laden in Tora Bora? CIA agents without orders sneaked into Tora Bora and found Al Qaeda hiding there. And still Americans did not go after bin Laden.

Actions approved by TheMercenary. America even disbanded Alex Station - the group tasked with getting bin Laden - in 2002. TheMercenary again approves. No wonder TheMercenary never asks, "When do we go after bin Laden?" TheMercenary even approves of protecting bin Laden.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by tw

TheMercenary...TheMercenary....TheMercenary...TheMercenary...TheMercenary....

Poor poor Ted (tw) thinks he knows what others believe. tw is now a mind reader.

[deadbeater]

Laugh all you want Merc, but that was what the US was (not) doing.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

That last post of tw's (#9) is pretty funny, coming from a man who gives mute but clear testimony that he does not want us winning this war. (He doesn't seem proud of the grounds on which he doesn't, either. He's silent on that score too.) Why, he's grousing about our troops ordered to keep no rounds chambered in their rifles at the beginning of the current phase of the conflict -- as if he actually wanted us to win. Ho ho.

Re Mercenary's pic:

Subject: "It's a, uh, a life jacket. With straps."

Nurse Ratched: <jotting> This detainee has no libido.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

That last post of tw's (#9) is pretty funny, coming from a man who gives mute but clear testimony that he does not want us winning this war.

Again Urbane Guerilla is rewriting history. For those who are new to the Cellar: Urbane Guerilla even rewrote the Pentagon Papers. His only problem is finding a publisher.

A grasp of reality? UG does not consider that a problem.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by tw

Urbane Guerilla even rewrote the Pentagon Papers.

Beats your Manifesto hands down.

[tw]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Beats your Manifesto hands down.

You really must learn how to identify different faces. He does not have my Asian eyes.