Russia Spies Operated in Iraq Through 2003
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Posted on 03/24/2006 2:23:54 PM PST by redlenses
Russia Spies Operated in Iraq Through 2003 Mar 24 3:48 PM US/Eastern
By MIKE ECKEL Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW
Russia had a military intelligence unit operating in Iraq up through the 2003 U.S. invasion and fall of Baghdad, a Russian analyst said Friday. A Pentagon report said Russia provided Saddam Hussein with intelligence on U.S. military movements and plans.
The unclassified report does not assess the value of the information or provide details beyond citing two captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians collected information from sources "inside the American Central Command" and that battlefield intelligence was provided to Saddam through the Russian ambassador in Baghdad.
A classified version of the Pentagon report, titled "Iraqi Perspectives Project," is not being made public.
A duty officer with Russia's Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the report late Friday evening and said questions must be faxed in advance before any answers would be given.
No one answered the phones at the Defense Ministry.
Pavel Felgenhauer, a respected independent Moscow-based military analyst, said the report was within the realm of possibility.
"It's quite plausible," he told The Associated Press.
He said a unit affiliated with the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Department, known by its abbreviation GRU, was actively working in Iraq at the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The unit apparently was shut down after Baghdad fell during the U.S.-led invasion.
There also was an Internet site in Russian called "The Ramzay Files" that caused a stir in Moscow's military and diplomatic community at the time, Felgenhauer said.
The site, which also shut down after the invasion, posted striking insights, predictions and analysis into U.S. military activities as well as Iraqi military and intelligence activities.
He said former GRU officials told him the type of information that was being posted _ both on the Iraqis and on the Americans _ appeared to be the kind that only highly placed Russian intelligence officials in Iraq would have.
According to the Pentagon report, one piece of Russian intelligence _ whether by chance or design _ actually contributed to an important U.S. military deception effort.
By telling Saddam that the main attack on Baghdad would not begin until the Army's 4th Infantry Division arrived around April 15, the Russians reinforced an impression that U.S. commanders were trying to catch the Iraqis by surprise.
The attack on Baghdad began well before the 4th Infantry arrived, and the Saddam regime collapsed quickly.
The Pentagon report also said the Russians told the Iraqis that the Americans planned to concentrate on bombing in and around Baghdad, cutting the road to Syria and Jordan and creating enough confusion to force Baghdad residents to flee.
Felgenhauer said the release of the report was coming at an inauspicious time, given the marked cooling in Russian-U.S. relations in recent months, and could be "the beginning of a real degradation in relations" between Washington and Moscow.
"This could reflect this ongoing confrontation and now the Pentagon is sticking its finger into the pie," he said.
And we are all suprised becasue.....?
Another topic that will be TRUMPED by "new polls" on the Sunday shows no doubt...
I am sure that the French were also helping their Iraqi friends.
Bumped.
So when do we find out that Russia moved wmd to Syria?
Soon I suspect...soon.
russia ping
That lefty rag the SF "Comical" of all MSM rags actually broke a story not long after liberation proving that the Mukhabarat were getting trained in Russia, and locally by Russian trainers, complete with special SVR certs, as recently as a winter 2002 - 2003.
A couple minutes prior to the first sortie of B2Bs entering Syrian airspace! ..... I hope ... ;)
Putin proving his communist stripes again and again.
Russia Spies Operated in Iraq Through 2003
Release/Translation of Classified PreWar Docs ping. If you want to be added or removed to the ping list, please Freepmail me.
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Didn't they find some missiles made by the French? I'm sure the French did much more. I still won't buy a French product.
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"Funny- if you are a freeper you knew about this three years ago- the MSM only picks it up when the pentagon releases it. LAZY and DUMB."
"Lazy and dumb" may be a good description of the "talking heads" and reporters of the media but I think it's unfair to describe the high-ranking people in the media that way. They are hard-working, astute servants, working to please their masters---the Russians. And they're doing a damn good job!
I appreciate this info--even if it is obvious. Note the important bit that the GRU has penetrated CENTCOM.
Of course, when I say the KGB (or FSB or maybe SVR) has penetrated the institutions of American society such as the mainstream media, the universities, elementary and high schools, the State Department, and the Democratic Party---even most freepers apparently find that view outlandish.
ping. Drawing people's attention to the fact that the GRU had penetrated CENTCOM during the debate US invasion of Iraq.
To exit from my Ping list, just send me one request to that effect, public or private.
Perhaps the FSB,SVR, or GRU did not actually penetrate CENTCOM, as much as say the CIA convienantly leaking a partial battle plan to one of them either on US soil or say European soil. And the final CENTCOM plans many have not been given, just close approximates for validation and authenticy, to misslead Saddam. After all Saddam new we where going to get him. Hell any Arab could have placed a call from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait etc., as things where being assembled in those places. I see no reason why we should place to much significance on this as a leak. I beat the plans the Russky got did not even mention continegency plans such as last minute sending in the Airborne into northern Iraq, due to the stalling by the Turks.
"Perhaps the FSB,SVR, or GRU did not actually penetrate CENTCOM, as much as say the CIA convienantly leaking a partial battle plan to one of them either on US soil or say European soil. And the final CENTCOM plans many have not been given, just close approximates for validation and authenticy, to misslead Saddam. After all Saddam new we where going to get him. Hell any Arab could have placed a call from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait etc., as things where being assembled in those places. I see no reason why we should place to much significance on this as a leak. I beat the plans the Russky got did not even mention continegency plans such as last minute sending in the Airborne into northern Iraq, due to the stalling by the Turks."
Point taken. There may or may not be any significance to this report.
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