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Post-Haste [Link to Pentagon Site Where pre-war Iraq and Afghanistan Documents are]
Weekly Standard ^ | 03/15/2006 | Stephen F. Hayes

Posted on 03/15/2006 9:02:25 PM PST by bnelson44

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has created a website where it will post documents captured in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. The website is hosted by the Foreign Military Studies Office Joint Reserve Intelligence Center at Fort Leavenworth and will be updated continuously with new documents.

The first batch of materials, released late Wednesday, includes nine documents captured in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom and 28 documents previously released on February 14, 2006, in conjunction with a study of those documents conducted by analysts at West Point. Sources on Capitol Hill and within the intelligence community tell The Weekly Standard that hundreds of new documents will be made available in the coming days, including 50-60 hours of audiotapes from the Iraqi regime.

ODNI officials will concentrate their early efforts on making available audiotapes and videotapes that have come from the former Iraqi regime. Twenty-five Arabic language translators will be hired to review these recordings for potentially sensitive information before they are posted. According to officials familiar with the DOCEX program, the U.S. government has in its possession more than 3,000 hours of recordings from the Iraqi regime. Among the collection: recordings of meetings between Saddam Hussein and other regime leaders; videotapes of speeches that Saddam thought would be important; audio and video of Saddam's meetings with foreign leaders; videotapes from conferences sponsored by the regime; and even videotapes of regime-sponsored brutality.

Materials made public in the first wave of the release will be those least likely to raise objections from the intelligence community and U.S. allies. Negroponte plans to include many of the documents labeled "NIV"--for No Intelligence Value--in this first group of materials.

But Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, insists that documents relevant to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 will be released in short order. "There may be many documents that relate to their WMD programs. Those should be released," says Hoekstra. "Same thing with links to terrorism."

Among that next batch may be the approximately 700 documents that served as the foundation for a fascinating study by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. Analysts from the Institute for Defense Analysis reviewed thousands of documents for that two-year study of the Iraq War from the perspective of Iraqis. Declassified excerpts of their final report were published in a highly illuminating article in the forthcoming issue of Foreign Affairs. And the full report will be published as a book in the coming months.

It is hard to say what, exactly, to expect with the coming release of documents. There will be documents that lend support to those who opposed the war in Iraq and, to be sure, documents that bolster the case for those who supported the war.

Importantly, after years of questions about the threat from the Iraqi regime, we will now be able to get some answers. How close were the French and the Russians to the former Iraqi regime? What kind of information was being passed to the Iraqis on the eve of war in early 2003? What is the real story of Iraq's WMD programs? Why did Saddam's military leaders and scientists fabricate their reports on the progress of those programs? Which terrorist groups had an active presence in Baghdad? How many Palestinian Liberation Front jihadists did the Iraqi regime train each year? How effective was Saddam Hussein in deceiving UN inspectors throughout the 1990s? What did Saddam Hussein privately tell Yasser Arafat when the Palestinian leader came to Baghdad? And what were the Western targets of the "Blessed July" martyrdom operation that was being planned as U.S. troops crossed into Iraq in March 2003?

There are still outstanding process questions that must be answered, too. Who determines which documents will be released and which ones will be kept secret? And what are the criteria for blocking the release of material thought to be sensitive?

Another critical issue is authenticity. A caveat on the website reads: "The US Government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available." Determining which documents are authentic and which are not will be an incredibly important task. This will be difficult task too, since many of the documents have no known chain of custody. There was a bustling black market for forged documents in Baghdad after the war. How will we determine which documents are real and which documents are not? Some documents listed in the HARMONY database have warnings: "DIA suspects inauthentic." Will those documents be included in the release? Will the warnings? Will we learn why the DIA suspected that the document might not be authentic? Has forensic document authentication been done on any of the documents? Which ones?

In the end, the Iraqis themselves will provide answers to many of those questions. And Iraqis will probably be central to our understanding of these documents and the history they represent. This is true not only because they understand the language of the documents, but also because they understand better than anyone the culture that produced them.

In that spirit, we will be eager to hear from the "Army of Analysts"--particularly those who read Arabic--that former intelligence officer Michael Tanji wrote about here two days ago. If John Negroponte makes good on his promise of a comprehensive document release, then millions of papers, audiotapes, and other media will be posted in the coming months. As we've seen, that's an overwhelming amount for the U.S. government, to say nothing of a magazine.

Let's get started.

Stephen F. Hayes is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaedaandiraq; gnfa; gnfi; iraq; iraqdocs; iraqiintelligence; prewardocs; prewarintelligence; releaseddocs; saddam; stephenfhayes
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To: redrock

Thank you!


81 posted on 03/16/2006 8:27:17 AM PST by Peach
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To: redrock

Freeper jveritas has done a translation of one of the Saddam tapes. We've long known about Saddam's decade's long relationship with Al Qaeda. What wasn't generally known was that Saddam sent his intelligence officials to meet with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

This freeper's translation is one of several articles I've seen in the last few days about this matter.

The thread can be found here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597459/posts


82 posted on 03/16/2006 8:38:39 AM PST by Peach
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To: eyespysomething

Ping me, too, please.


83 posted on 03/16/2006 8:45:53 AM PST by upcountry miss
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To: reformedliberal
Even the body language and inflections need interpretation by someone familiar with that speaker's dialect and cultural context.

That is correct, especially the dialect and cultural aspect.

84 posted on 03/16/2006 8:55:14 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
White House Releases Declassified Info. from Prewar Iraq

WASHINGTON, D.C.-March 16, 2006 - Iraqi documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war and released by the Bush administration show Saddam Hussein's regime was investigating "rumors" that 3,000 Iraqis and Saudis had traveled unofficially to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks to fight U.S. troops.

The documents, the first of thousands expected to be declassified over the next several months, were released late Wednesday via a Pentagon Web site at the direction of National Intelligence Director John Negroponte. Many were in Arabic - with no English translation - including one the administration said showed that Iraqi intelligence officials suspected al-Qaida members were inside Iraq in 2002.

The Pentagon Web site described that document this way: "2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names."

However, one of the documents translated by The Associated Press, a letter from an Iraqi intelligence official, dated Aug. 17, 2002, asked agents in the country to be on the lookout for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and another unnamed man whose picture was attached.

The letter said there were reports the two could be in Iraq and directed Iraqi security officials to be on the alert as a matter of "top priority."

Attached were three responses in which agents said there was no evidence al-Zarqawi or the other man were in Iraq.

The release of the documents, expected to continue for months, is designed to allow lawmakers and the public to investigate what documents from Saddam's regime said about such controversial issues as weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaida in the period before the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003.

The Web site cautioned that the U.S. government "has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available."

A handful of prewar Iraq government documents released Wednesday had been translated into English.

They included one Iraqi intelligence document indicating Saddam's feared Fedayeen paramilitary forces were investigating rumors in the fall of 2001 that as many as 3,000 Iraqis and Saudis were going to fight in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion.

"In the report on the status of rumors for November of 2001 regarding Fedayeen Saddam in al-Anbar, there is an entry that indicates that there is a group of Iraqi and Saudi Arabians numbering around 3,000 who have gone in an unofficial capacity to Afghanistan and have joined the mujahidin (mujahedeen, or holy warriors) to fight with and aid them in defeating the American Zionist Imperialist attack," the translated document stated.

"After presenting the matter to the Supervisor of Fedayeen Saddam, he ordered that the matter should be looked into for verification of the truth of the rumor," the translation said.

House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., requested the release of millions pages of documents and audio recordings captured during current and previous U.S. military operations in Iraq. Most have sat untranslated for years.

85 posted on 03/16/2006 8:57:50 AM PST by TexKat
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To: r9etb
The Bush Administration very clearly understands the power of the new media....

Thank you! Nice to read a positive comment as opposed to the whining about what the Enemedia will or will not do with this info.

86 posted on 03/16/2006 9:01:01 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: TexKat; Chena; Valin; M. Thatcher; DocRock; Calpernia; Madame Dufarge; Txsleuth; Peach; SwatTeam; ..
ABC news story: White House Releases Declassified Info. from Prewar Iraq

Release of Classified PreWar Docs ping. If you want to be added or removed to the ping list, please Freepmail me.

87 posted on 03/16/2006 9:07:24 AM PST by eyespysomething
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To: eyespysomething

You have FReepmail


88 posted on 03/16/2006 9:08:25 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: iraqikurd

FYI ping ... many great links.


89 posted on 03/16/2006 9:09:12 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: bnelson44

Bookmarked.

Thx!


90 posted on 03/16/2006 9:11:48 AM PST by sauropod ("All you get is controversy, crap and confusion." Alan Simpson defining the WH Pimp Corps.)
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To: eyespysomething

I am liking all info I'm getting. Have to start a file so I can read these and send them to friends, relatives and a few stubborn die hard yellow dog democrats.


91 posted on 03/16/2006 9:14:04 AM PST by SwatTeam
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To: Peach

Made the call. Thanks!


92 posted on 03/16/2006 9:14:38 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: Justanobody

Thank you very much!!!


93 posted on 03/16/2006 9:17:02 AM PST by Peach
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To: maine-iac7

What do you mean?

What a strange comment.


94 posted on 03/16/2006 9:21:34 AM PST by pollyannaish
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To: eyespysomething

Add me please.


95 posted on 03/16/2006 9:23:32 AM PST by sauropod ("All you get is controversy, crap and confusion." Alan Simpson defining the WH Pimp Corps.)
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To: eyespysomething

bttt


96 posted on 03/16/2006 9:42:08 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Peach
Update...
I called Hoekstra and Roberts. Hoekstra's intelligence office person advised me to follow up my call with an e-mail. She said they do note the calls, but an e-mail gives more emphasis, even if there is no reply.
97 posted on 03/16/2006 9:44:30 AM PST by Just A Nobody (NEVER AGAIN - Support our troops. I *LOVE* my attitude problem! Beware the Enemedia.)
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To: SwatTeam

Yep, as soon as I saw that they were out I went and downloaded them all before any disappear.

I think I'm gonna like all the info!


98 posted on 03/16/2006 9:56:33 AM PST by eyespysomething
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To: Grampa Dave
When did Hayes start discussing these files. It seems like late last summer or in the early fall.

My subscription to Weekly Standard started in September, and I believe almost every issue has him writing something about these documents. He's been incessant.

99 posted on 03/16/2006 10:00:48 AM PST by eyespysomething
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To: Justanobody

I had thought they ignored e-mails, but I'm sending one right now and will give them more ammunition to the Iraq/AQ connections.

Thank you for telling us this!

Senator Pat Roberts
Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee
109 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1605
DC Phone: (202) 224-4774
DC Fax: (202) 224-3514
E-mail: http://roberts.senate.gov/e-mail_pat.html

Congressman Peter Hoekstra
Chairman, House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence
H-405 U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone (877) 858-9040 Toll-Free
(202) 225-4121 Office


Email intelligence.hpsci@mail.house.gov

And I'm sending them the links within this link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1327993/posts?page=212#212


100 posted on 03/16/2006 10:03:52 AM PST by Peach
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