IP: 1980s INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH IRAQ REVISITED

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Aftergood, Steven" <saftergood () fas org>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 13:59:36 -0400
To: secrecy_news () test fas org
Subject: Secrecy News -- 07/30/02

1980s INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH IRAQ REVISITED

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday blamed American defectors
to Russia for the difficulty of locating and eliminating Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction, arguing that the spies' disclosures had been
provided to Iraq and used to support its denial and deception activities.
But he neglected to mention that for years Iraq enjoyed more a direct
source of U.S. intelligence information.

According to Secretary Rumsfeld, "The Iraqis have benefited from
American spies defecting to the Soviet Union or Russia and providing
information as to how we do things, and then they proliferate that
information on how another country can best achieve denial and
deception and avoid having the location, precise location, actionable
locations of things [i.e., weapons of mass destruction] known."  See:

  http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2002/t07292002_t0729sd.html

But former CIA analyst Allen Thomson observed that the record indicates
a much less roundabout source for Iraqi access to such U.S.
intelligence information, namely the U.S. government itself.

On May 28, 1984, President Reagan issued National Security Decision
Directive (NSDD) 141 on "Responding to Escalation in Iran-Iraq War"
which authorized intelligence sharing with the Government of Iraq in
order to forestall an Iranian victory.  (That Directive remains
classified.)  In 1986, the scope of intelligence sharing with Iraq was
expanded twice, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report.

The consequences of that arrangement were suggested by Sen. Tom Harkin
in a November 7, 1991 floor statement.

"The secret intelligence sharing operation with Iraq was not only a
highly questionable and possibly illegal operation, but also may have
jeopardized American lives and our national interests," Sen. Harkin
said.

"The photo reconnaissance, highly sensitive electronic eavesdropping
and narrative texts provided to Saddam, may not only have helped him
in Iraq's war against Iran but also in the recent gulf war. Saddam
Hussein may have discovered the value of underground land lines as
opposed to radio communications after he was given our intelligence
information."

"Further, after the Persian Gulf war, our intelligence community was
surprised at the extent of Iraq's nuclear program. One reason Saddam
may have hidden his nuclear program so effectively from detection was
because of his knowledge of our satellite photos. What also concerns
me about that operation is that we spend millions of dollars keeping
secrets from the Soviets and then we give it to Saddam who sells them
to the Soviets," said Sen. Harkin.  See Harkin's statement here:

     http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1991_cr/s911107-gates.htm

The latter point, of course, contrasts directly with Secretary
Rumsfeld's allegation that the Soviets or Russians had forwarded such
information to Saddam.

"The Iraqis are deceiving U.S. spy satellites and fooling Pentagon
intelligence analysts thanks to techniques they learned from U.S.
military intelligence officers during the eight-year war between Iran
and Iraq," reported Tim Weiner, then of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
back in 1991.

See his article "Iraq Uses Techniques in Spying Against Its Former
Tutor, the U.S.," with commentary by Jonathan Pollard, of all people,
here:

     http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1991/020591.htm

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