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Revision as of 14:02, 28 March 2006 by RonCram (talk | contribs) (An bold innovation that private citizens can assist in intelligence analysis)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents refers to some 55,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes produced by the government of Saddam Hussein and seized after the 2003 invasion of Iraq that the U.S. government is releasing on the internet to get help translating. The documents date from the mid-1990s until early 2003. The U.S. government is requesting Arabic translators around the world to help in the translation. The documents can be found at the Foreign Military Studies Office Joint Reserve Intelligence Center website.
These documents are not to be confused with the documents studied for the Iraqi Perspectives Project, which were all seized in Iraq and given priority for translation. An article in Weekly Standard states that at the time the documents were seized, the priority was on learning about the Iraqi WMD program so documents that dealt with other matters such as Saddam's support for Islamic terrorism were less likely to be studied. The Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents number in the millions and need to be translated. Both sets of documents have opened up Western understanding of the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein.
A bold innovation
Releasing the documents over the internet to gain the help of translators around the world is new idea that was pushed by Congressman Pete Hoekstra. The Associated Press quoted Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists government secrecy project saying it's a "radical notion" that "members of the public could contribute to the intelligence analysis process. ... That is a bold innovation." The AP also quoted Glenn Reynolds, the blogger at Instapundit.com: "The secret of the 21st century is attract a lot of smart people to focus on problems that you think are important."
Critics of the approach
John Prados, author of the book, "Hoodwinked: The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War" said "I would bet that the materials that they chose to post were the ones that were suggestive of a threat." Prados, an analyst with the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute, dismissed the documents: "The collection is good material for somebody who wants to do a biography of Saddam Hussein, but in terms of saying one thing or the other about weapons of mass destruction, it's not there."
History of the documents
The Ba'athists were said to be "meticulous record-keepers." The documents were found in government offices in Iraq and Afghanistan. A debate ensued inside the government regarding whether these documents should be released to the public. Because the documents were not being made public through the normal channels, certain documents began to leak out through unconventional channels.
The first set of documents were released to an online media outlet called Cybercast News Service. A second set of documents generated greater media attention when they were released to The Intelligence Summit. The Intelligence Summit was holding an international intelligence conference and was able to get national television coverage of some of the audiotapes of Saddam Hussein talking to his top officials. A spokeswoman for John Negroponte, the Directorate of National Intelligence, noted that "Intelligence community analysts from the CIA and the DIA reviewed the translations and found that while fascinating from a historical perspective, the tapes do not reveal anything that changes their postwar analysis of Iraq's weapons programs, nor do they change the findings contained in the comprehensive Iraq Survey Group report."
Congressman Pete Hoekstra, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, described the rationale for the public disclosure of the documents as follows:
- "We're hoping to unleash the power of the Internet, unleash the power of the blogosphere, to get through these documents and give us a better understanding of what was going on in Iraq before the war"
John Negroponte at first tried to delay the release of the documents, but softened his opposition to releasing after conversations with Rep. Hoekstra. President Bush directed Negroponte to release the documents and they are slowly being made available.
According to Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, the release of the documents "looks like an effort to discover a retrospective justification for the war in Iraq." The Pentagon cautions that the 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." The Los Angeles Times notes that "the documents do not appear to offer any new evidence of illicit activity by Hussein, or hint at preparations for the insurgency that followed the invasion."
What the documents show
Several news stories about the documents have been published recently. One document detailed a meeting on February 19, 1995, that showed that Osama bin Laden suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. Just eight months later, al-Qaeda operatives killed five U.S. military advisors in Saudi Arabia. There has been no evidence or even speculation, however, of Iraqi complicity in that attack.
Another document, is given the synopsis: "Abu-Zubaydah Statement on the Capability of al-Qaidah to Manufacture and Deliver Nuclear Weapons to the U.S." Abu Zubaydah was recently captured and is believed to be the highest ranking member of al-Qaeda to be held. There is no indication that this document links Abu Zubaydah to Iraq in any way.
One document (PDF) records Saddam Hussein ordering the use of chemical weapons in the "Balisan Basin."
Another document claims that Russia had a mole inside the U.S. military who gave the Russians information regarding U.S. troop movements, information that was then forwarded to the Iraqi military. The Russians deny the story and some of the information the Russians reportedly passed to the Iraqis was incorrect. According to ABC, "A Pentagon study released today concludes, however, that the information didn't do Saddam Hussein any good because he never acted it on though it proved to be accurate."
Another document suggests that the Iraqi government planned to respond to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq with "camels of mass destruction" -- camels fitted with suicide bombs that would meet the invading army. In another document, Saddam's son Qusay orders captured Kuwaitis to be used as "human shields" against the invaders.