Russia spied for Saddam in war - Pentagon report

[spindrifter]

· Intelligence on US troop movements was passed on
· Plans of American central command in Iraqi papers

Oliver Burkeman in New York
Saturday March 25, 2006
The Guardian

Russia funnelled intelligence on American troop movements in Iraq to Saddam Hussein during the early days of the war, according to documents contained in a Pentagon report released last night.

Documents apparently from Saddam's regime, seized by the Americans, described how Russia collected crucial plans from "inside the American central command", and channelled it via Moscow's ambassador in Baghdad, Vladimir Titorenko.

The Pentagon did not explicitly vouch for the authenticity of the documents, but a spokesman said they seemed to be part of a pattern of Russia acting in accord with its economic interests.

<snip>

Backstory

Russia was one of the most vigorous opponents of the US invasion of Iraq and vowed to veto any war-sanctioning UN resolution - not least because of its extensive economic ties to the Saddam regime. Moscow had trade deals worth many billions of dollars in progress with Baghdad, while its oil giant Lukoil had a large stake in the Iraqi oil industry, and Iraq owed Russia $7bn in debt. Russia is also home to many of the officials and companies cited in the Volcker report on the oil-for-food scandal, whereby Saddam allegedly paid foreign politicians to lobby on his behalf.

<snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1739407,00.html

[occuserpens]

1. Yet another info dump

[IsItJustMe]

2. dup

[IsItJustMe]

3. dup

[IsItJustMe]

4. Didn't chimp look into his soul?

[LevelB]

5. Why, yes he did.

Apparently Putin's soul has an extremely reflective surface and Bush saw himself.

B.