Posted on 03/31/2003 8:58:01 AM PST by Smogger
The CIA has stopped trying to persuade Iraqi generals and political leaders to defect after underestimating their "hatred" of America.
A three-month campaign using telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals has failed to convince any help overthrow Saddam Hussein.
"We misjudged their tenacity," an American intelligence official has told USA Today.
"These guys are driven by a hatred of the US that we may have underestimated."
Potential defectors were promised asylum, money and a position in a post-war Iraqi government.
Some refused to desert until Saddam was captured or killed because they feared retribution.
Others resisted changing sides because they had been rewarded for their loyalty to the regime with promotions, houses and cars.
Iraqi Major General Ali Musa Ramadan said: "Iraqi people are ready to fight. We are ready to defend President Saddam Hussein."
He and his colleagues "laugh and hang up" on Iraqi opposition leaders when they made the offers, he said.
I don't give a crap if you like my sources or not. The report is a wire report from Gannett News Service. I don't care if you like Gannett or not. Go pee on a stack of USA Todays if you don't. There? Feel better? Good.
Because Gannett News service does not provide public access to its news articles. So all we can do is post a link to an affilaiated web site. Of course of you would stop making accusations and research the article for two seconds you would know this.
I had this figured out a year ago.
And I will repeat the same about the general population; not 5%... not 10%... at a minimum, 50%.
This gives a whole new meaning to "non-combatants" and "civilians".
I wonder how long it will take for the "experts" to figure this out?
I wasn't making accusations, I was asking a question.
Check this out, you might find it useful: http://news.google.com/
Using it under the keyword search "CIA", I found the following story from USA Today via Yahoo:
U.S. officials concede they 'misjudged' Iraqi defections
Jack Kelley USA TODAY
KUWAIT CITY -- A three-month U.S. effort to persuade Iraq (news - web sites)'s generals and Baath Party leaders to surrender and oust Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) is being scaled back after it failed to produce any significant defections, U.S. intelligence and military officials said.
''We misjudged their tenacity,'' a senior U.S. intelligence official said of Iraq's leaders. ''These guys are driven by a hatred (of the United States) that we may have underestimated.''
The failed effort appears to reflect a miscalculation by the Pentagon (news - web sites) and CIA (news - web sites) of the willingness or ability of Iraq's political and military leaders to overthrow Saddam. Officials said they believed that if they could get Iraq's leaders to surrender, support for the regime would crumble. They also thought a conflict inside Baghdad could be avoided. Now, they fear the war could last longer than expected.
U.S. intelligence officials speculate that some Iraqi generals won't surrender because they have been rewarded for their loyalty with power, houses and cars and they believe they can outlast the attacks. Or, fearing retribution, they won't capitulate until Saddam has been captured or killed. Other Iraqis genuinely dislike the United States.
The effort to topple Saddam involved telephone calls, e-mails and face-to-face appeals to Iraq's top leaders by Iraqi opposition members, CIA operatives and others, U.S. intelligence officials said. The generals and political leaders were promised asylum, cash and a role in Iraq's new government if they defected, mounted a coup or agreed not to use biological or chemical weapons in the war.
Ten days ago, U.S. officials were so confident they could persuade Iraqi leaders to surrender that they delayed the bombing of Baghdad by several hours. Since then, Iraqi officials have repeatedly rejected surrender appeals, U.S. intelligence officials said.
One Iraqi general said U.S. officials should not be surprised. ''(The) Iraqi people are ready to fight. We are ready to defend President Saddam Hussein,'' Maj. Gen. Ali Musa Ramadan said by telephone Sunday. Ramadan said he and other Iraqi generals ''laugh and hang up'' on Iraqi opposition leaders when they make the offers. ''They are wasting their time.''
A senior U.S. military official said profiles of Iraqi leaders indicating they might surrender were wrong. ''Our intelligence assessments were overly optimistic,'' the official said.
Other officials point out that it is too early to say whether the generals and political leaders would surrender if they see U.S. forces moving toward Baghdad. They said their efforts to get them to capitulate will continue, but at a reduced rate.
Gannett News Service published USA today and dozens of other papers around the country. Peronally, I don't read it. So I couldn't claim if its biased or not. The article seems fairly straightforward to me. I dunno you a big boy you read into it whatever you wanted but when you make statements like:
"Again - you aid and abet the aiders and abettors."
I consider it a personal attack on my God-fearing red- blooded Partiotic American self, and i'm going to take you to task for it.
We'll know that this story is true when the U.S. takes out the Defense Ministry building in Baghdad. Until then it's still up in the air . . .
This sounds like propaganda to me.
Most of Gannett's newpapers have an anti-war bias and these quotes from unnamed sources are most likely not an accurate accessment of what the CIA thinks.
Who else but a traitor would leak out such classified information?
Perhaps you would like lessons from MadIvan on finding reports that you won't find in Gannett or Reuters or on ABCCBSNBCCNNMSNBCALJAZZ, etc.
Stay Safe !
I could care less what you appreciate. The idea that I would curtail my posting based on your perception of bias by one news organization or another is laughable. The rest of us are informed, and can make our own judgements as to the validity or bias of the information we read.
Methinks he was being sarcastic, or have you not heard about Peter Arnett?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.