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(U) MGQ's Notes from the Field - Part 3
FROM: MG Richard Quirk, USA
SIGINT Director
Run Date: 04/08/2005
(U//FOUO) Hello from somewhere over the Arabian Peninsula. I'm
writing this third installment to our trip report from the flight deck
of a C-130H Hercules transport aircraft departing from Qatar on
our way to Kabul Afghanistan. We have completed our four-day
stay in Iraq, but I will use today's letter to catch you up on what
we learned there.
(U) You may remember that I left off with the missions and
requirements of the Ambassador and those of the MNFI and MNCI.
I'll continue in this vein today. Fortunately, I have a 6-hour flight
ahead for doing some writing.
(S//SI) On 1 April, our team visited the British Brigadier Bob Kett,
who is the MNFI Deputy C2. He deals daily and personally with
Iraqi governmental leaders, and is charged with standing up the
Iraqi Intelligence Community. He loves our product; it provides
him with great insight concerning the people he is working with.
With his busy schedule he finds summaries especially valuable. He
is particularly interested in emerging personalities in the Transfer
of National Authorities (TNA), in the larger state of the Sunni
insurgency, and Sunni engagement in governmental bodies, in
illicit activities moving through or connected with Syria, and in
projections of what will happen in the future internally as the Shi'a
assume control of Iraq.
(S//SI) The Charge D'Affairs at the embassy in Baghdad spent a lot
of time with us, and was very forthcoming with his needs. The first
three priorities on his list were "Where is Zarqawi?", "Where is
Zarqawi?" and "Where is Zarqawi?" He believes very strongly that
getting Zarqawi off the streets is the next logical coup for the
campaign. Zarqawi and his "mayhem R us" henchmen wield a very
significant psychological force over the people of Iraq. He has
proven to all that he will not hesitate to brutalize Muslims and that
he has no real regard for the Iraqis. Zarqawi and his band are 7th
century guys. They won't be assured by progress. They must be
taken off the streets! Removing him from play will build enormous
confidence and hope in the populace of Iraq. The Charge' points
out that the balance has shifted in our favor in recent weeks. We
(the force pushing toward democracy) are on a roll. "We are
winning...but we haven't yet won-- a bad conjunction of events
could mess it up." Those events could include: A bad government,
eg with Barzani intentionally undermining democratic formations;
the death of Sistani (Sistani is absolutely vital to stability; he
always comes up with the right solutions, and always manages to
convince all the players to adopt his solutions). Internationally, the
Charge is satisfied with our coverage for the present, but points
out that Syria is still a mystery to us. His goals here are to
continue cracking down on the Syrians, and to keep the Iranians
where they are. He points also to the Mideast Peace Process as a
big player. What happens there always has a major influence over
the Middle East, and specifically in progress in Iraq; so our efforts
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
in the Peace Process matter.
(S//SI) Back on the internal side, this time with the Kurds, he is
very happy with our product on Talabni, "But Barzani is opaque."
Understanding Barzani's position will be important. He places
enormous emphasis on the reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure,
especially the restoration of electricity and gasoline to the people.
We are up to about 12 hours of electricity now, and further
increases are vital for commerce, industry, and quality of life. He
challenged all of us here, stating he had yet to see a report on
insurgency intentions to attack electric or gasoline delivery
infrastructure. Finally, he pointed to the importance of the
upcoming vote to adopt the constitution. He is not so much
concerned that Sunnis would vote it down as that Sunnis would be
intimidated to refrain from voting, and would like any indicators of
such intimidation. As a parting remark, he and his political/military
deputy praised our UN and diplomatic reporting--it has been
extraordinarily valuable to the Embassy in all of their dealings.
They were also very complimentary of our hostage/kidnapping
coverage, stating that our tippers are particularly vital.
(S//SI) I have focused down on a few leaders in this letter, because
I want all of you to see the dependency on, and high regard for,
SIGINT that all key leaders here share. Everyone we interviewed
had the same detailed sense of what we do now, and for what we
might be doing the future. They praise us, not only for the quality
of our product, but for our choice of targets, our direct and selfless
support and other non-SIGINT actions, and most of all for our
SIGINT representatives, providing them face-to-face services out
forward. Each and every leader spoke strongly for their particular
NCR, CSG, NIST, and CST cryptologists. They asked that we
continue to send them such fine people, who have so easily become
their trusted "battle buddies." Finally, each and every leader we
met asked, in an almost sheepish way, that we just try to do even
more, pointing out that each increase in our efforts had meant
more soldiers saved, more enemies defeated, and more rapid
progress toward our goals.
(S//SI) We must seek out ways to help more in the Global War.
Each person we put to the task is like a hundred riflemen on our
front lines. I doubt that SIGINT has ever enjoyed a position of
more importance or acceptance throughout such a large population
of supported agencies as it now does. We must not shrink from
this opportunity now. I once served along side a regiment whose
motto is "Who dares, wins." That must be our motto as we
aggressively meet and exceed the expectations of our operational
partners in this Global War on Terrorism. I ask that each of you
seek out a fellow cryptologist who has returned from this region
and ask them about the importance of our contribution and the
value of increasing our efforts.
(U//FOUO) I'll leave you today with another unit motto: " Keep up
the fires." It's the motto of an old artillery regiment. What we are
doing today in missions around the world is providing fires support
that is every bit as effective and important as artillery in history.
So tonight, as our team flies on to Afghanistan, let me ask you to
continue to pour it on.
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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