Compartmentalizing information: inside both al Qaeda and the former Baath party regime in Iraq (Regime of Terror)

Compartmentalizing information: inside both al Qaeda and the former Baath party regime in Iraq

If members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were ordered to assist Islamic terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, who would be privy to that knowledge?

According to those who have been captured, as few people as possible.

Abu Zubaydah, as reported by the 2004 Senate Intelligence Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, told his CIA interrogators that he was unaware of a relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq and “that any relationship would be highly compartmented”. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was one of the members of al Qaeda who Zubaydah named as having good relations with Iraqi Intelligence.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in testimony before jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui case, said that the necessity to compartmentalize the details of the 9-11 plot was a top priority. “He insisted on compartmentalizing the details of the plot, to such a degree that even some of Al Qaeda's top officials did not know them.” Los Angeles Times, 4-5-06

But what about the Iraqis? Would they feel the need to keep a possible relationship with Islamic terrorists a secret?

In the case of al Qaeda, apparently the answer is yes. Toronto Star foreign correspondent Mitch Potter’s discovery of a Mukhabarat file on al Qaeda revealed the manner in which Iraqi officials would such high priority information.

"It's a top secret file, it was marked top secret, and of course they went to great lengths to try to mask the contents of it.” Potter told the CBC. CBC News, 4-28-03

Captured Iraqi Intelligence officers have given testimony to confirm the desire for secrecy within Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Abdul Rahman al-Shamari, a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Mukhabarat now in custody, told Jonathan Schanzer (Senior fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy) that not only did Saddam Hussein’s regime lend aid to members of al Qaeda but that the efforts to do so were kept secret. Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3-01-04

When digging for an answer to Saddam Hussein’s possible State Sponsorship of al Qaeda will the answers be formal agreements or videos of public meetings? If the examples above are representative of the possible relationship between the two groups then the answer is “no.”

What can be done is ask questions of those who would know. This would include former regime officials who are in custody (it must be kept in mind that denials of sponsorship may only indicate that that particular detainee was not privy to the compartmentalized information), al Qaeda members captured in Iraq (both early and late in the war). The further exploitation of the millions of recovered documents from Saddam Hussein’s former regime will also shed some light on the who’s, what’s and when’s of these unanswered questions.

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If members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were ordered to assist Islamic terrorists, particularly al Qaeda, who would be privy to that knowledge? According to those who have been captured, as few people as possible. Abu Zubaydah, as reported by the 2004 Senate Intelligence Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, told his CIA interrogators that he was unaware of a relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq and “that any relationship would be highly compartmented”. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was one of the members of al Qaeda who Zubaydah named as having good relations with Iraqi Intelligence. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in testimony before jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui case, said that the necessity to compartmentalize the details of the 9-11 plot was a top priority. “He insisted on compartmentalizing the details of the plot, to such a degree that even some of Al Qaeda's top officials did not know them.” Los Angeles Times, 4-5-06 But what about the Iraqis? Would they feel the need to keep a possible relationship with Islamic terrorists a secret? In the case of al Qaeda, apparently the answer is yes. Toronto Star foreign correspondent Mitch Potter’s discovery of a Mukhabarat file on al Qaeda revealed the manner in which Iraqi officials would such high priority information. "It's a top secret file, it was marked top secret, and of course they went to great lengths to try to mask the contents of it.” Potter told the CBC. CBC News, 4-28-03 Captured Iraqi Intelligence officers have given testimony to confirm the desire for secrecy within Saddam Hussein’s regime. Abdul Rahman al-Shamari, a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Mukhabarat now in custody, told Jonathan Schanzer (Senior fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy) that not only did Saddam Hussein’s regime lend aid to members of al Qaeda but that the efforts to do so were kept secret. Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3-01-04 When digging for an answer to Saddam Hussein’s possible State Sponsorship of al Qaeda will the answers be formal agreements or videos of public meetings? If the examples above are representative of the possible relationship between the two groups then the answer is “no.” What can be done is ask questions of those who would know. This would include former regime officials who are in custody (it must be kept in mind that denials of sponsorship may only indicate that that particular detainee was not privy to the compartmentalized information), al Qaeda members captured in Iraq (both early and late in the war). The further exploitation of the millions of recovered documents from Saddam Hussein’s former regime will also shed some light on the who’s, what’s and when’s of these unanswered questions.

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