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Jewish World Review March 28, 2003 / 24 Adar II, 5763
Michael Ledeen
The post-war terror threat
The latest story was reported on the front
page of my favorite Italian newspaper, il Foglio, published
in Milan. According to this account, Saddam decided two
months ago to secure some of his most dangerous
technologies, along with some of his most skilled scientists.
To that end, Iraq and Syria signed a joint agreement on
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in Damascus on
Jan. 17. As a sign of good will, Saddam sent Bashar Assad
some samples: three CDs with mathematical formulae
dealing with nuclear explosions; three test tubes loaded
with anthrax and botulinum spores, and detailed analyses of
tests carried out with these poisons on human subjects in
Iraqi prisons.
The secret agreement provided for the transfer of Iraqi
scientists and technicians to Syria, so that, along with the
technology, crucial know-how would be preserved for the
ongoing jihad against Israel and the United States. Three
microbiologists and a small group of technicians, along with
their families, entered Syria in the second half of February,
and a top nuclear physicist and members of his team
sneaked across the border early in March.
In addition, much of Saddam's supply of weapons of mass
destruction was moved to Syria for hiding and safekeeping
over the past few months, both to evade detection and to
create a murderous legacy for the Iraqi dictator. According
to other sources, Saddam has agreed to "be disappeared"
into Syria, as Osama bin Laden vanished into Iran in the
first days of the Afghanistan campaign.
The same sort of program was carried out with Iran.
Chemical and biological supplies were shipped to Tehran
(some in the hundreds of coffins that were said to contain
the remains of Iranian "martyrs" from the Iran-Iraq War),
and Iranian military and intelligence officers have worked
closely with Saddam to prepare hundreds of suicide
bombers, and even to train kamikaze pilots who are
supposed to fly Iraqi MIGs (some loaded with
chemical/biological "cocktails") at American targets once
the war is under way.
Both Syria and Iran have organized the infiltration of
thousands of terrorists and suicide bombers into Iraq for
attacks against American and British forces. They do not
expect to defeat the allied coalition, but they do believe that
if they can deprive us of a clear-cut success, time will work
in their favor. They remember the 1980s, when years of
terrorist bombings, assassinations and hostage seizures
eventually led the United States to withdraw from Lebanon,
and they believe that a similar success was achieved against
Israel in the 1990s.
To that end, the Iranians have dispatched three of their
most lethal terrorist groups to the border with northern
Iraq, armed with all manner of weapons, and instructed to
inflict maximum damage on our troops.
If this information is correct, our moment of greatest peril
will come after the formal military operation. Innumerable
accounts point to a vast demoralization of Iraqi armed
forces, and it may be that we will be faced with a significant
logistical problem in handling massive numbers of defectors
and POWs.
But the Iranian and Syrian-sponsored terrorists are a
different matter. They will not have to face an armed
invasion, and their territory will not be at risk. They can
pick and choose their targets, use hit-and-run tactics to
carry out their attacks, and sneak across the borders to
safe havens under the protection of the mullahs and the
Assads.
Time will soon tell if these accounts are accurate, and if the
Syrians and the Iranians, faced with the terrifying prospect
of the imminent fall of their ally in Baghdad, and seeing the
massive power of Operation Shock and Awe, follow
through with their plans for a desperate throw of the
terrorist dice.
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03/26/03: All Fronts: Military war, political war, psychological war
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