Trillo Blames a “Leak” for the Attack on [Spanish] CNI Agents

“A rumor, a leak or betrayal” coming from people close to the CNI members in Iraq may have caused the attack that cost the lives of seven members of the Spanish secret service. This is the theory of the Minister of Defense, Federico Trillo, who blamed the ambush on a possible betrayal and even asserted that it may be linked to the attack on José Antonio Blanco. The Spaniards carried on a half-hour fire-fight with the criminals, according to José Manuel Sánchez Riera, the sole survivor. Sánchez Riera traveled to Madrid from Kuwait in the same plane that repatriated the bodies of his comrades.

The Minister of Defense stated yesterday that “a rumor, a leak or a betrayal coming from someone in an environment that cannot be controlled in any way” had revealed the movements of the agents…

The agents were dressed in civilian clothes and were divided into groups of four. They had had lunch in Baghdad and were on their way to inspect the area, because one group was about to relieve another…

According to the Minister, neither their appearance nor their clothing would have attracted attention. In fact, they did not appear Western and had been well trained in adapting themselves to their surroundings…

It was unusual for eight intelligence agents to travel together, but on that occasion, they did so because they were inspecting the area prior to turning it over to the new team. The objective was to make contact with the region and learn the terrain, and they had taken advantage of the day to work together.

Had they been careless? The Defense Minister denies it. The element of surprise is key to secret agents, and thus they had decided to move up the time of their return to their base, between Diwaniya and Najaf, where the Spanish military contingent is located.

They had chosen a route that runs along next to the highway. It is a road usually taken as an alternative route and, because it has more traffic, is considered better for passing unnoticed.

30 km from Baghdad, after crossing Mahmudiya, a region in which there is a US base, they noticed that they were being followed on the run-down two-lane highway by a passenger car. It was a white Oldsmobile, occupied by five passengers, who began to fire at them with Kalashnikov rifles. The driver of one of the SUVs was hit and the vehicle went off the road. The other stopped. They were 50 meters from the entrance to Latifya. At that point, snipers began to shoot from the walls on either side.

The agents fought back for 20-30 minutes, defending themselves with pistols. One of the agents was able to communicate with the CNI headquarters in Madrid to tell them what was happening and ask for help. The agents fell one after another. The only survivor, José Manuel Sánchez Riera, managed to get across the road. He attempted to get to a car to escape, and was finally able to do so. An Iraqi in a passenger car picked him up and brought him to the nearby town of Mahmudiay, where he notified local police.

They returned together to the place where the attack had occurred and found the cars on fire. The bodies of the Spanish agents had been left on the shoulder. Superpuma helicopters from the Spanish base in Diwaniya had been alerted and flew over the area. A Sky News team from Hillya was passing by and filmed a group of people jumping on the bodies, stepping on them and kicking them. They left after a couple of minutes when they noticed the hostile attitude of the group.

After some time, a helicopter arrived from the American forces. The lightly wounded agent was transported to the Saint Michael base in Mahmudiay for observation. The seven bodies were recovered by the forces of the Third Brigade of the US 82nd Airborne Division, which brought them to the morgue at the Baghdad International Airport.

Some interesting details. There was a thread yesterday about the leaks and possibly even betrayals regarding Coalition troops and activities.

I also read that the CNI agents were particularly interested in a Saddam-era burial site, where thousands of Iraqis, mostly Shiites, had been buried alive by Saddam to punish them for their uprising. The Spanish hoped that this information would encourage the Shiites to remember which side their bread was buttered on, so to speak. But I think the Saddamites got to them first.

"They left after a couple of minutes when they noticed the hostile attitude of the group."

Bunch of pussies. Instead of wielding a 50 caliber, these powder puffs wield cameras, pencils and nail clippers.

< rant>
We should drastically cut funding for all the socialist crap in Washington and give everything bank to the Department of Defense. Make it to a point that anyone willing to man an AC-130 could do so as long as they put it to profuse usage on the above scumbags.
< /rant>

Personally, I would be pouring hot metal on these animals for 16 hours/day or more.

They may have been good at their jobs, but it isn't the easiest thing in the world for a bunch of Europeans to blend in and be mistaken for native Iraqis. Maybe they were betrayed. Maybe some behavioral trick gave them away.

Actually, many Spaniards could blend in very well - they're generally a small, slender group of folks, and those who have a dark complexion (although many Spaniards, contrary to the popular image, have blue eyes and brown hair) can look very Arabic with scarcely any effort.

Personally, I think one of the things that is very difficult about this undertaking is that Saddam's own secret service is still out there and still hard at work.

I was impressed by the fact that an Iraqi picked up the surviving Spaniard. One brave Iraqi!

The other thing I think is a problem for Coalition troops, as well as civilian workers, such as the Japanese diplomats and the two Koreans killed that day, is that they have obviously been told to distance themselves from the Americans. (This is the reason the Spaniards called Madrid instead of the US military base down the road.)

I think they should reexamine this policy. Whether they like it or not, they're going to be associated with us and are going to be targets. So why not openly associate with us and get a little protection thrown in?

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