http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=1312&e=3&u=/nm/20040621/ts_nm/iraq_kurds_israel_dc_1NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israel has operatives training commando units in Kurdish areas of U.S.-occupied Iraq (news - web sites), an alignment with the Kurds that gives Israel "eyes and ears" in Iraq, Iran and Syria, The New Yorker magazine reported on Monday.
The article by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, who earlier this year exposed the extent of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, quoted a CIA (news - web sites) official as saying the Israeli presence is widely known in the U.S. intelligence community.
The report quoted a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington as saying, "The story is simply untrue."
The report, quoting current and former intelligence officials in the United States, the Middle East and Europe, said one of Israel's main objectives is to increase Kurdish military strength to balance that of Shiite militias.
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You can expect the Iraqi Civil War to start July 1st...:eyes: