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(U) MGQ's Notes from the Field - Part 2
FROM: MG Richard Quirk, USA
SIGINT Director
Run Date: 04/07/2005
(U) Hello again from Baghdad. The SIGINT Leadership Team has
seen and heard a great deal over the past 48 hours, and I'm going
to focus today's letter on the organizations and missions we have
been exposed to thus far on this Friday morning.
(S//SI) In a wartime situation, conditions tend to change very
rapidly, and it is important to constantly reconfirm or redefine our
missions. On this trip, we are finding a US effort embroiled in
change. Yesterday we visited the two new major commands in
Iraq: the Multi National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) and the Multi National
Corps - Iraq (MNC-I). MNF-I, under the command of General
George Casey, is focusing on the establishment of elements of the
Iraqi government, especially its security and military institutions.
(S//SI) It is an enormous job that is rooted in selecting, vetting,
and training the right people from the Iraqi population to lead this
country toward a free, democratic, and prosperous future. These
are exceptionally difficult tasks for a people brought up within a
despotic and oppressive regime. SIGINT can and must assist MNF-I
in identifying emerging leaders suitable for the governing and
defense of a free country that respects the rights of its citizens and
those of its neighbors. We will also have to separate the good
actors from the bad in practice, as we watch them execute their
duties in this government.
(S//SI) MNF-I is also charged with the current security of the
country. BG (P) John Defreitas, the senior intelligence officer, is
focusing much of his effort and that of the Combined Intelligence
Operations Center on identifying, tracking, and defeating the
insurgents, former regime elements (FRE) and other internal and
external entities that continue to threaten our US forces, Iraqi
citizens, and the developing Iraqi nation-state in the long term, as
well as now. Much of our focus across the SIGINT System will have
to remain on the internal threat for now, but, increasingly, we must
refocus on external relationships and the vetting of internal leaders
of the future.
(S//SI) The largest element of MNF-I is MNC-I. Commanded by
Lieutenant General John Vines, whose newly arrived XVIII Airborne
Corps Headquarters serves as its leadership element, MNC-I also
includes the 2d Marine Expeditionary Force, 3d Infantry Division,
42d Infantry Division, Task Force Freedom (the Striker
Brigade/11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Task Force), and our
coalition partner units. Its mission is to conduct military operations
to secure Iraq sufficiently to permit MNF-I and other elements of
the US government and the coalition to assist in the standup of the
Iraqi government. The MNC-I forces are distributed across much of
Iraq, and are reducing the threat of insurgency and the
intimidation to levels that the newly established Iraqi security
forces can manage. In fact, they are gradually turning this mission
over to the Iraqi security forces. Our cryptologic missions in this
SERIES:
(U) SID Leadership '05
TDY to CENTCOM AOR
1. MGQ's Notes from
the Field - Part 1
2. Field Station Rattler
3. Hello from Iraq!
4. MG Q Iraq Theater
TDY: Day 3, April1,
2005
5. The Art of Sharing:
Insight and
Continuity
6. MGQ's Notes from
the Field - Part 2
7. MGQ's Notes from
the Field - Part 3
8. Summing Up the Trip
9. The Trip in Photos
10. Seeing into the
Global SIGINT
System - A View
from the Field
regard are aimed at detecting and targeting elements of the
opposing forces in country, and assisting in protecting our forces,
which are still sustaining casualties from enemy action.
(S//SI) In the realm of Force Protection, the number one killer of
US and coalition troops in the improvised explosive device, or IED.
We need to be sure that SIGINT is doing what it can to counter the
IED threat as part of the Interagency Team working the IED
problem.
(S//SI) In the business of detecting opposing forces in country, our
Cryptologic mission continues to focus on identifying, tracking, and
targeting these insurgent and FRE elements so that MNC-I forces
can take these threats off the street. It became very clear today
that the overwhelming priority in this regard is "AMZ", or Abu
Musab al Zarqawi. I'll discuss his importance to the operations
tomorrow; suffice it to say that his removal as a threat is the vital
"next step" in building confidence in the citizenry and in making the
streets safer for all.
(S//SI) It will also become more important over time to ensure we
are doing all we can to support the coalition-aspect of these
operations. For example: this morning, I met the commander of
the South Korean Forces in Iraq, stationed in Irbil. He has a
Korean tactical SIGINT unit supporting his operation, but they have
had virtually no contact with our efforts. We will have an
opportunity and a challenge here to develop better teamwork
across all of the deployed tactical SIGINT units such as those of the
Koreans. We are building the "Center Ice" communications
network specifically to supply that kind of tactical SIGINT coalition
on the ground.
(S//SI) Over time, this kind of mutual support will have to extend
as well to the Iraqi SIGINT Element (ISE), if SIGINT is to help build
stability in the country. We will want to imbue the ISE with all of
the skills and ethics that should be demanded of a SIGINT Service
in a democratic nation, especially one under internal and external
threat. If we are to develop a lasting partnership with Iraq, we will
need to assist in the training of that service, and open the doors of
sharing fairly early in its development. Otherwise, the country will
be forced to seek other partners, some of which might not favor
democratic development. The clock is ticking on this relationship,
even though establishing it is filled with challenges. In a broader
sense, we will have to open dissemination of SIGINT, "SECRET REL
IRAQ", much more widely in the future. As the MNF-I and the
Ambassador continue to increase the role of Iraqi security forces in
conducting operations, they will become much more dependent on
good intelligence. We will have to aggressively identify
opportunities to provide to them the intelligence they will need to
successfully execute those operations that we would have
previously had to conduct.
(U) Tomorrow, I plan to continue providing you with a sense of the
needs of our very senior partners over here. Meanwhile, today you
will probably see additional articles from other members of the
team.
(U) Everywhere we went today, the most consistent theme was the
profound gratitude of each of our customers and partners for your
extraordinary accomplishments. This was not patronizing chatter.
People over here do not have time for small talk or "feel good
remarks". Too many lives hang in the balance, and the folks here
know all too well their responsibility to win this conflict quickly and
to protect lives. No...these continue to be heartfelt thanks from
very knowledgeable teammates. It has already been a great
pleasure to receive the thanks that have truly been meant for all of
you.
(U//FOUO) I guess my last remark is to note that this day has
been a special pleasure because of all of the totally professional
personnel we have met already on the trip. There have been too
many to mention, but certainly
(CSG
Baghdad) stood out today, as did
,
,
(MI Co, 4th Bde, 3ID at the
"No Heads Palace"),
(S3),
(FAD),
(F6), and
(NCR-I Ofc Admin).
Keep up the great work!
MG Q
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108