[iwar] [fc:'Rogue'.Nations.Furnish.Intelligence]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-02 05:40:31
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:1984:.America's.First.Bioterrorism.Attack]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Hornet.Squadrons.'Overstated'.Readiness]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
Message-Id: <200110021240.FAA02898@big.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 05:40:31 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:'Rogue'.Nations.Furnish.Intelligence]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Boston Globe
September 27, 2001

'Rogue' Nations Furnish Intelligence
States on US list provide assistance
By John Donnelly and Anthony Shadid, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON - In a dramatic foreign policy turnabout, the Bush
administration has sought and in some cases received help from four
states considered sponsors of terrorism as it probes the Sept.  11
attacks in New York and Washington, US officials confirmed yesterday. 

The administration already has received intelligence on Osama bin
Laden's Al Qaeda organization from Libya, Syria, and Sudan, a country
that the United States bombed in 1998 and was home to bin Laden until
1996.  The United States also hopes to receive intelligence on Afghan
drug networks from Iran, the officials said, because of the possible
links between the drug trade and bin Laden's organization. 

In addition, a senior administration official said a fifth country on
the US list of states sponsoring terrorism, North Korea, also may soon
be asked to provide intelligence on terror groups. 

''Who would have thought it?'' said the senior US official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, about the responses from the states called
rogues only a year ago.  ''This is a fertile opportunity for nations to
do business differently.  It took ...  an historical event like this to
capture the attention of countries that they didn't have to do things in
a certain way anymore.''

A sixth state on the list, Cuba, which expressed condolences and offered
assistance, will not be asked for assistance, partially because of the
political firestorm such an arrangement would cause among
Cuban-Americans, one US official said.  Iraq, the seventh and last state
on the State Department's list, is on a Pentagon list of potential
targets for attack.  The senior US official declined to give specifics
on the intelligence assistance provided by Libya, Syria, or Sudan, whose
representatives held high-level talks with a US delegation last week in
London. 

While the official noted that there are risks for the United States in
opening relationships with the countries, he said the possible benefits
made it worth exploring. 

''If Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and other countries say, `I'm against
that too, maybe I have to join in not only condemning terrorism and
expressing condolences, but support that brotherhood of nations out
there,' we should realize that maybe this page in history is going to
look a lot different,'' the official said.  ''We're not taking this
naively.  We will take it a step at a time and not lurch to embrace
anyone.''

A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
United States is seeking all possible intelligence on the Al Qaeda
group.  ''Not to explore it, not to explore these possibilities, not to
probe what they mean would be irresponsible,'' the official said. 

But such arrangements will surely draw the ire of some in Congress who
are extremely distrustful of several of the listed states.  Many
analysts say the administration will have to be extraordinarily careful
about what it asks for, and what it offers in return. 

''It's an opportunity for both sides, but it's one that has to be
managed very carefully because it could quickly return to haunt the
other side,'' said Suzanne Maloney, who is writing a book on
contemporary Iranian politics and economics. 

Maloney noted the current situation in Afghanistan has roots in the
''large-scale funding for a covert war supported by the CIA in the
1980s.  If we begin a new initiative, we have to watch out'' for similar
unintended consequences in the future. 

Given its importance as an oil exporter and regional power, Iran may
have the most to offer.  US officials have maintained a consistently
positive tone about the possibility of cooperation, even as the
country's hard-line supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, labeled US
behavior yesterday ''disgusting.'' Khamenei rejected the notion that
nations had to choose between backing the United States and backing
terrorism. 

''We are not with you.  At the same time we are not with terrorists,''
Khamenei said in a speech. 

US officials were particularly interested in hearing from British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose trip to Iran this week was the
highest level visit by a British official since the 1979 revolution. 

The Iranians ''could have an interesting perspective on how the
financing networks operate, how connections go on, how communications go
on, what the pressure points are for these organizations,'' said a US
official. 

Among the pitfalls of an approach to Iran are its longstanding
relationships with militant Islamic groups such as Hamas in the
Palestinian territories and Hezbollah.  There is also sensitivity over
Iran's reported role in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 US
servicemen in Saudi Arabia.  A federal grand jury indictment earlier
this year pointed to an Iranian role but did not formally charge any
Iranian. 

As for Syria, a State Department official said the contacts remain very
sensitive but have already generated interest. 

Some analysts wondered whether the Bush administration was making an
overture to Libya when President Bush this week froze the assets of 27
groups and individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism, including
the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.  That group, which opposes the rule
of the mercurial Moammar Khadafy, had not previously been listed in US
government publications. 

Khadafy condemned the terror attacks in surprisingly strong terms,
calling them ''horrifying'' and saying the United States had ''the right
to take revenge.'' He urged Libyans to donate blood for the US victims. 

Sudan was singled out for praise yesterday by State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher.  ''We've had some discussions with the government of
Sudan and feel that those discussions are good, probably a beginning of
cooperation that we appreciate and that we would intend to try to pursue
further,'' he said. 


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:1984:.America's.First.Bioterrorism.Attack]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Hornet.Squadrons.'Overstated'.Readiness]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:53 PST