Report: Russia Had Sources in U.S. Command

[Beet]

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
Fri Mar 24, 4:31 PM ET
 
WASHINGTON - The Russian government collected intelligence from sources inside the American military command as the U.S. mounted the invasion of     Iraq, and the Russians fed information to     Saddam Hussein on troop movements and plans, according to Iraqi documents cited in a     Pentagon report released Friday.

The Russians relayed information to Saddam during the opening days of the war in late March and early April 2003, including a crucial time before the ground assault on Baghdad, according to the documents.

The unclassified report does not assess the value of the information or provide details beyond citing two captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians collected information from sources "inside the American Central Command" and that battlefield intelligence was provided to Saddam through the Russian ambassador in Baghdad.

A classified version of the Pentagon report, titled "Iraqi Perspectives Project," is not being made public.

In Moscow, a duty officer with Russia's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report late Friday. No one answered the phones at the Defense Ministry.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Venable, referred inquiries seeking comment to Central Command. At Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., officials did not immediately respond to a request.

[YRABNNRM]

I read something about this earlier today. Very interesting.

[Beet]

So people don't have more to say about this? Hmmm, interesting..

I would have thought giving intelligence to an enemy actively at war with America was pretty much the equivalent of being an enemy combatant yourself, and the fact is that this was done not by some amorphous terrorist organization but a major world government. The fact that the foreign government has penetrated to the very top echelons of our military services is one thing; that they used it to give information to the enemy during a war that would put our own troops in harms way is another. I would have thought something like this would be a major scandal.

But I guess others are simply more jaded and realistic about things: top-level spying, giving aid to an enemy during war, should be considered routine for foreign governments, and not worth more than a day's news cycle?

[KillerPollo]

So people don't have more to say about this? Hmmm, interesting..

I would have thought giving intelligence to an enemy actively at war with America was pretty much the equivalent of being an enemy combatant yourself, and the fact is that this was done not by some amorphous terrorist organization but a major world government. The fact that the foreign government has penetrated to the very top echelons of our military services is one thing; that they used it to give information to the enemy during a war that would put our own troops in harms way is another. I would have thought something like this would be a major scandal.

But I guess others are simply more jaded and realistic about things: top-level spying, giving aid to an enemy during war, should be considered routine for foreign governments, and not worth more than a day's news cycle?

Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. It is what the Russians are pretty much doing. Did any of you really think all the tensions would end after the fall of the Soviet Empire?