But an FBI official in Washington said that his agency was not involved in the Baghdad raid, and a CIA spokesman said that none of his agency's personnel were present."
Talk about COVERT OPS! As the saying goes: "the first casualty of war is truth."
Q (Through interpreter.) Halim Asaidi (ph) from Sabah Newspaper. Some of the members of the GC requested from Ambassador Bremer to apologize for the assault that took place against the headquarters of Mr. Chalabi. What was the response of the Coalition Authority? Thank you.
MR. SENOR: If anybody is seeking an apology, it should be directed at the Iraqi police service. If there's a concern with the investigation or the way the operation was conducted, it should be directed at the Iraqi investigative judge who issued the arrest warrants. This was not something that Ambassador Bremer was involved in.
Dexter?
Q Dan, which government agency or which government contract did the American plainclothes civilians, who were armed, who accompanied the soldiers, work for -- in the Chalabi raid?
MR. SENOR: They were -- sure. Well, first, let me say that there were no officials from the Central Intelligence Agency. There were no officials there from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. There were no Defense Intelligence Agency officials there. There were private contractors who work for the Ministry of Interior. And their job is primarily -- my understanding is, their job is the professionalization of the Iraqi police service. So they were there to observe and advise the Iraqi police during this operation, as they do on numerous operations. They are the only non-Iraqis, to my understanding, that were there.
There was one woman, an -- who was American, who identified herself as an employee of the Iraqi National Congress, who was there when the police service arrived on the scene.
GEN. KIMMITT: And Dexter, you said, escorted the "soldiers." I know you meant the Iraqi police.
There were U.S. soldiers that were involved in the outer cordon. The only purpose in this operation was that if there was any collateral violence that was associated with this, with their responsibility to maintain a safe and secure environment throughout Baghdad, that's what they were there for. But, however, the actual police operation was one conducted by the Iraqi police.