Shocking Infiltration of Terrorist Groups in the Iraqi Military and Police

The Iraqi military and police are stricken with terror of “the Fifth Column.” The Fifth Column refers to a spy who has a legitimate position in the military or police but provides internal information to insurgents or terrorists like tweezers picking out only the necessary information.

Insurgents avail themselves of the information and continue their “execution of Iraqi-version traitors” who cooperate with the U.S. forces and the interim government.

Internal Information as Groundwork –

Foreign news pointed out that there must be an internal colluder in the mass slaughter of some 50 fresh Iraqi recruits on October 24, considering the spot and audacity of the incidence. In other words, the terrorists were exactly aware of the new recruits’ departure time, path of movement, and unarmed status.

The local police also said that the insurgents were disguised in Iraqi military uniforms. Iraqi military authorities made it clear that 48 new recruits and three drivers were killed.

An authority of the U.S. forces pointed out that the mortar attack targeting an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq on October 19 was also a result of a leak in internal information. At the time, shells fell right in the middle of the Iraqi military’s rank. In short, the attack was possible because the insurgents knew exactly when and where soldiers gathered. The attack claimed four lives and 80 were wounded.

This is very different from the previous attack patterns by the insurgents. In the past, facilities observable from outer blocks such as military enlistment offices or police stations were the major targets.

Civilians are no Exceptions –

Iraqi civilians who work for the Allied Forces or foreign companies as interpreters, office workers, or doctors are also afflicted with the terror of murder menaces and wiretapping. In front of their gates each day, threatening letters are posted, “Stop immediately or you will be killed in the name of Allah.”

Rumors are rampant that the insurgents have made a “list of traitors” and will attack them. Consequently, those civilians who work for the Allied Forces or foreign companies hide the fact even to their husbands and wives.

When the threats do not work, the insurgents rain their targets with bullets or throw them away in places where people can be easily found after kidnapping and cruelly torturing them.

The Goal of the Fifth Column –

The U.S. Defense Department construes that operatives who align themselves with the insurgents infiltrated the Iraqi military and police. If the Fifth Column extensively drains security information, there is a chance that the insurgents will be able to turn the general elections scheduled in January 2005 into impossibility as they can give “fatal blows,” albeit outnumbered.

Foreign news analyzed that the strategy of the insurgents lies in intimidating the Iraqis so that they cannot be safe as long as they cooperate with foreigners. In fact, quite a number of Iraqi civilians succumbed to the threats and gave up working as interpreters and office workers.

The Iraqi interim government announced its will to take strong measures yesterday and that some 150 Arab terror accomplices can be sentenced to death. The government’s measure seems to be a poison prescription to block the atmosphere of the threatened civilians reluctantly cooperating with terror organizations.

Jin Lee Hyung-June Park leej@donga.com lovesong@donga.com