CIA plans uprising in Iraq

Secret US plans to instigate an uprising in Iraq against the Ba’ath regime of president Saddam Hussein have been revealed by sources close to the White House and CIA.

These reports have not been officially confirmed nor denied, but they are so numerous that everything points towards the veracity of such a plan, especially at this moment in time, with George Bush referring to Baghdad as one of the points in the “axis of evil” and numerous senators denouncing the plans for a military invasion. While analysts claim that such an exercise would be extremely complicated, especially in the short term, the instigation of a popular uprising with tacit and covert support from abroad would be a much easier proposition.

The indications that this is fact and not fantasy are already clear. A four-man CIA team, led by the agency’s chief officer in Istanbul, contacted local politicians in Iraqi Kurdistan three weeks ago and approached them as to their needs in the event of an uprising. The Americans spoke about three secret destinations for US military aircraft to land, although the “secrecy” surrounding these airports is classified as a joke in Washington, due to the fact that the US forces know these bases inside out.

The Iraqi newspaper Al-Hayat claims that a seven-man CIA team is currently in northern Iraq. Sources in Washington claim that a secret plan to set in motion an overthrow of the regime, based upon the same lines as the campaign in Afghanistan, has the support of numerous Congress members. Under this plan, US military aircraft would bomb Iraqi communications centres (an act which US and British aircraft already carry out on an almost daily basis), along with Republican Guard centres and clusters of Iraqi military vehicles.

The Shi’ite forces in the south and the Kurds in the north would then, heavily armed and supplied by the USA, launch massive attacks on Iraqi army positions. Such an attempt was made to overthrow the regime in Baghdad after the Gulf War, but Saddam Hussein had managed to salvage a sufficient number of his troops to save his regime intact.

Before this plan, a massive media campaign against Saddam Hussein is planned for domestic consumption. The New York Times claims that the Bush administration is planning to set up a radio transmitter either in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the Iranian border, or inside Iran itself, with the cooperation of the Iranians, who despite being on the “axis of evil” list, have a common objective with Washington: the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi National Congress (the country’s main opposition force) has had an office in Teheran for a year, an office which is financed by Washington.

The US administration spends 400,000 USD per year on TV transmissions supporting the Iraqi opposition. Regarding the diplomatic offensive, the forthcoming visit of Vice-president Richard (Dick) Cheney to the region will be used to engage support from Iraq’s neighbours in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

If true, and everything indicates that they are, these plans are a blatant example of Washington’s continuous policy of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. One questions what the reaction would be if a foreign power gave covert support to an uprising by those who claim the state of Aztlan in the southern USA.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru