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Russia told Iraq about US moves
25/03/2006 15:48 - (SA)
Washington - Russia gave Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein intelligence from inside the US military command on US troop movements after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to an official report released on Friday.
The intelligence described US plans to move troops up to Baghdad from the south through the Euphrates River valley, bypassing main cities on the way, the Iraqi Perspectives Project said, citing Iraqi documents.
One document quoted in the report said the Russians collected information from sources in the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar.
It is unclear what impact the Russian intelligence had on Saddam. The study depicted the dictator as being so out of touch with reality that he did not believe the United States would invade.
When the operation did start on March 20, 2003, Saddam -- who was deposed one month later and is now on trial for crimes against humanity -- did not think US forces would go all the way to Baghdad.
"That was only a small part of Saddam's calculus of the decisions he should make, and the actions he should take in the events leading up to the conflict," said Brigadier General Anthony Cucolo, who heads the unit that made the study.
Cucolo said he had been "surprised" by the Russian involvement.
Some of the information appeared to have misled the Iraqi leadership into thinking that the main thrust of the US invasion would come from Jordan in the west, not from Kuwait in the south.
The Iraqi commander responsible for the defence of Baghdad from the southeast, Lieutenant General Raad Hamdani, understood from the start of the offensive that a substantial portion of the coalition force was moving up the west side of the Euphrates, according to the study.
But his superiors countermanded his order to move Iraqi forces to the west to meet the invading force, apparently for fear they might be cut off from Baghdad.
"Significantly, the regime was also receiving intelligence from the Russians that fed suspicions that the attack out of Kuwait was merely a diversion," said the study which quoted a document sent to Saddam four days after air attacks started.
- AFP
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