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Israel
trains US assassination squads in Iraq
Julian
Borger in Washington
Tuesday December 9, 2003
The
Guardian
Israeli advisers are helping train US
special forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations in
Iraq, including the use of assassination squads against
guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources said
yesterday.
The
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban warfare specialists
to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US special forces,
and according to two sources, Israeli military "consultants"
have also visited Iraq.
US forces
in Iraq's Sunni triangle have already begun to use tactics that
echo Israeli operations in the occupied territories, sealing off
centres of resistance with razor wire and razing buildings from
where attacks have been launched against US troops.
But the
secret war in Iraq is about to get much tougher, in the hope of
suppressing the Ba'athist-led insurgency ahead of next
November's presidential elections.
US
special forces teams are already behind the lines inside Syria
attempting to kill foreign jihadists before they cross the
border, and a group focused on the "neutralisation" of
guerrilla leaders is being set up, according to sources familiar
with the operations.
"This
is basically an assassination programme. That is what is being
conceptualised here. This is a hunter-killer team," said a
former senior US intelligence official, who added that he feared
the new tactics and enhanced cooperation with Israel would only
inflame a volatile situation in the Middle East.
"It
is bonkers, insane. Here we are - we're already being compared
to Sharon in the Arab world, and we've just confirmed it by
bringing in the Israelis and setting up assassination teams."
"They
are being trained by Israelis in Fort Bragg," a
well-informed intelligence source in Washington said.
"Some
Israelis went to Iraq as well, not to do training, but for
providing consultations."
The
consultants' visit to Iraq was confirmed by another US source
who was in contact with American officials there.
The
Pentagon did not return calls seeking comment, but a military
planner, Brigadier General Michael Vane, mentioned the
cooperation with Israel in a letter to Army magazine in July
about the Iraq counter-insurgency campaign.
"We
recently travelled to Israel to glean lessons learned from their
counterterrorist operations in urban areas," wrote General
Vane, deputy chief of staff at the army's training and doctrine
command.
An
Israeli official said the IDF regularly shared its experience in
the West Bank and Gaza with the US armed forces, but said he
could not comment about cooperation in Iraq.
"When
we do activities, the US military attaches in Tel Aviv are
interested. I assume it's the same as the British. That's the
way allies work. The special forces come to our people and say,
do debrief on an operation we have done," the official
said.
"Does
it affect Iraq? It's not in our interest or the American
interest or in anyone's interest to go into that. It would just
fit in with jihadist prejudices."
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Colonel Ralph Peters, a former army intelligence officer and
a critic of Pentagon policy in Iraq, said yesterday there was
nothing wrong with learning lessons wherever possible.
"When we turn to anyone for insights, it doesn't mean we
blindly accept it," Col Peters said. "But I think what
you're seeing is a new realism. The American tendency is to try
to win all the hearts and minds. In Iraq, there are just some
hearts and minds you can't win. Within the bounds of human
rights, if you do make an example of certain villages it gets
the attention of the others, and attacks have gone down in the
area."
The new counter-insurgency unit made up of elite troops being
put together in the Pentagon is called Task Force 121, New
Yorker magazine reported in yesterday's edition.
One of the planners behind the offensive is a highly
controversial figure, whose role is likely to inflame Muslim
opinion: Lieutenant General William "Jerry" Boykin.
In October, there were calls for his resignation after he
told a church congregation in Oregon that the US was at war with
Satan, who "wants to destroy us as a Christian army".
"He's been promoted a rank
above his abilities," he said. "Some generals are
pretty good on battlefield but are disastrous nearer the source
of power."
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