The Connection? - Winds of

The Connection? - Winds of Change's Dan Darling wonders about meaning of an undefined hole in the Iraqi Intelligence Service's organization chart:

Initially Unit 999 had five battalions of 300 men apiece, and more recently another battalion was formed to counter Iraqi opposition groups.

* 1st "Persian" Battalion [Iran]
* 2nd "Saudi Arabia" Battalion
* 3rd "Palestine" Battalion [Israel]
* 4th "Turkish" Battalion;
* 5th "Marine" Battalion [sea-borne operations, mine warfare, etc]
* "Opposition" battalion

In 1994, following the founding of the Iraqi National Congress [INC] opposition group, the Istikhabarat was assigned the role in monitoring and countering the opposition to the Saddam regime. The "Opposition" includes comprises sections dealing with Kurds in the north and Shias in the marshes of the south.

Most of these battalions can be linked up with known Iraqi-sponsored terrorist groups:

* Persian = Mujahideen-e-Khalq
* Palestine = Palestine Liberation Front/Abu Nidal Organization
* Turkish = PKK/KADEK

That accounts for all of the groups of foreign terrorists except one: the Saudis. What Saudi terrorist group was training at Salman Pak? Well, according to the testimony of an Iraqi lieutenant general and Sabah Khodada, I think that we can draw a fairly straightforward conclusion.

Remember - it's just a blank that needs filling in.

Flit, which referred me to the piece, asks the vital question:

So what about the mystery 2nd battalion, called "Saudi Arabia"? It's the only country oriented battalion not to be officially linked to any terrorist groups. The obvious conclusion is that this is the unit that maintained the elusive Iraq/Al Queda relationship. But let's say that's wrong. If it wasn't Al Queda that was being trained by the Saudi Arabia Battalion of Unit 999 then who were they training? Why is the documentation of the other units so clear and this one so murky?

Like the man says - it's a mystery; just a hole in an org chart. It's something we need to see filled in.

Will the press step up and try to fill it in?

Posted by Mitch at October 20, 2003 06:01 AM