Intelligence

US military points to crucial role of German spies in Iraq war

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, Dec 13, IRNA
Germany-Iraq-US
High-ranking American military officials said Germany's BND foreign secret service played a crucial role in providing vital information to the US before and during the Iraq war, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine reported ahead of its publication on Sunday.

The reports of two BND operatives who stayed in Baghdad during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, were 'extremely important and valuable' for the course of the war, according to American military leaders.

Retired US general, James Marks who led the reconaissance staff of US ground troops in Iraq, labeled the BND role 'extremely important' as well as 'detailed and reliable'.

"We relied more on the information from Germany than the information of the CIA," added Marks.

BND reports led also to the cancellation of US plans for a surprise attack on Baghdad airport by its airborne troops, according to the former general.

The start of the war was also pushed up because of the BND information.

Meanwhile, Colonel Carol Stewart who headed the US Central Command reconaissance staff, confirmed also that the German agents did what he termed an 'excellent job'.

"I knew the Germans opposed the war and therefore, I wondered that they played such a positive and helpful role for us," Stewart was quoted as saying according to the German-language transcript of Der Spiegel.

"Anyone who claims that these reports did not play any role in combat actions, lives on another planet," he added.

The BND spies dispatched around 130 reports including photos and GPS data via secured satellite lines to their main headquarters in the southern German town of Pullach, Der Spiegel said.

The German government has repeatedly said its intelligence operatives provided the US with intelligence on Iraq but rejected allegations it aided the American bombing campaign during the 2003 invasion.

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