Marines poking around Iraq minorities, looking for chaos in prep for Iran

[bigtree]

US marines probe tensions among Iran’s ethnic minorities

February 23 2006
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/25a4dbf8-a49f-11da-897c-0000779e2340.html

{snips}


US intelligence experts suggested the marines’ effort could be evidence of early stages of contingency plans for a ground assault on Iran. Or it could be an attempt to evaluate the implications of the unrest in Iranian border regions for marines stationed in Iraq, as well as Iranian infiltration.


Diplomats in Washington expressed shock at the possible implications of the marine research.

The FT interviewed several Iranians in the US who were invited to help. Some refused, seeing it as part of an effort to break up Iran. But several exiled politicians representing minority groups opposed to the Islamic regime did take part, although they said they wanted a peaceful transition to a democratic, federal Iran and were opposed to any US military action.

Mauri Esfandiari, US representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, which ended its armed struggle in 1997 and is based mostly in northern Iraq, said he believed the Pentagon was acting on its long-standing distrust of CIA and State Department analysis. He thought the Pentagon was looking to counter the prevailing administration view that US support for Iran’s minorities would create a disastrous backlash.

“They want to study and see if the State Department’s chaos theory is a valid hypothesis,” he said. The US could not look to the Kurds to support an invasion as they did in Iraq, he said.


full report: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/25a4dbf8-a49f-11da-897c-0000779e2340.html

[5X]

1. Who blew up that mosque again? n/t

[truth2power]

3. I'm about 90% sure it was us.

I think that Iranian official was right. Who benefits?

[bigtree]

6. it's a Will Pitt observation that none of this would have happened without

Bush

I agree, we are responsible.

[bigtree]

2. in the middle of this mysterious mosque bombing our marines are muckraking

behind the scenes . . .

Hicks and Associates, a defence contractor, conducted two research projects into Iraqi and Iranian ethnic groups.

"Hicks and Associates is a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), one of the biggest US defence contractors and deeply involved in the prewar planning for Iraq."

SAIC has at least 7 contracts to set-up and run broadcast media in Iraq,
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/resources.aspx?act=contrib

[Dunvegan]

4. I've done security consulting with these boys...

...SAIC. A lot of former "black-ops" actors seem to find post-Foggy Bottom employment there.

Hicks and Associates is a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp, one of the biggest US defence contractors and deeply involved in the prewar planning for Iraq.

[bigtree]

5. My pennies on SAIC

Vinnell Corporation, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation, was awarded a $48 million contract to train the nucleus of a new Iraqi Army. Vinnell's subcontracts its work to MPRI, Military Professional Resources Incorporated , SAIC, Science Applications International Corp; Eagle Group International Inc, Omega Training Group ; and Worldwide Language Resources. http://www.vinnell.com /

Science Applications International Corp. has an affinity for this administration and their ambitions in Iraq. Based in San Diego, the company had two recent contracts totaling $166 million to upgrade the Royal Saudi Naval Forces' communications and command systems. http://www.saic.com /

SAIC bills itself as the largest employee-owned research and engineering firm in the nation. SAIC takes in over $5.9 billion, reflecting a growth rate of 2 percent over the previous year's revenues of $5.8 billion. About two thirds came from the U.S. Treasury, mostly from the defense budget.

SAIC was turned down in an $200 million attempt to purchase Aerospace Corp., in 1996.

The top five executives at Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego made between $825,000 and $1.8 million in salaries in 2001, and held more than $1.5 million in stock options.

Gen. Wayne Downing (U.S. Army retired), a SAIC consultant served as a lobbyist before the war for the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress and its head, Ahmad Chalabi. Downing also served on the board of the PNAC dominated, Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

Ret. Gen. William Owens, another former high-level military officer who sits on the boards of five companies that received millions in defense contracts, last year served as president, chief operating officer and vice chair of SAIC. Owens is also member of the Defense Policy Board which advises defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The Center for Public Integrity has reported that, of the 30 Defense Policy Board members, nine have ties to companies that won more than $76 billion in defense contracts last year.

Former SAIC executives include Retired Admiral Bobby Inman Secretary Melvin Laird, ex-CIA Director Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense WilliamPerry, and former CIA Director John Deutch.

A joint venture between SAIC and Bechtel, Bechtel SAIC Company will help manage and operate the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage program and support extensive DOE studies of Yucca Mountain's geology, hydrology, and climate. SAIC has more than 19 years of continuous service at Yucca Mountain

SAIC also runs the "Voice of the New Iraq", the radio station established on 15 April 2003 at Umm Qasr that is funded by the U.S. government.

SAIC was awarded a contract from the GSA Federal Technology Service to deliver telecommunications support services and integrated solutions for federal departments and agencies nationwide. SAIC ordered equipment that was incompatible with existing systems in Iraq. It asked for help from VOA, and was forced to rely on a dubbed network news programs.

SAIC was hired recently to investigate what called Johns Hopkins University called serious security flaws in Diebold's new voting machines. The credibility of that report is flawed from the start by the company's ties to this politically incestuous Bush administration.

SAIC's Steve Rockwood boasts: "SAIC can be the window into the government for small businesses."

The Iraqi Development and Reconstruction Council, was set up to operate as an independent, non-political body to advise an Iraqi transitional authority. IDRC would rely on the existing "backbone" of Iraq's trained civil servants to continue basic services but also act as an agent for progress. http://usembassy.state.gov/islamabad/wwwh03080602.html

"There is a wealth of human resources in Iraq," said Nisreen Sideek, Minister of Reconstruction and Development from the city of Erbil in a State Dept. release.

The council is made up of about 130 Iraqi volunteers who are now assigned to Iraq's ministries in Baghdad and across the region. They offer technical experience in a wide range of fields from agriculture to health affairs

According to Middle East Reference.org., the senior members of IRDC hold positions at each of 23 Iraqi ministries, where they work closely with US and British officials under Paul Bremer, the head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

Members of the IRDC are officially employed by SAIC, whose vice-president until 2002 was David Kay, the WMD hunter. Kay was coordinator of SAIC's homeland security and the company’s counterterrorism initiatives.

The Center for Public Integrity reported that the contracts all appear to last for one year and call for all of the work to be directed by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.
Feith's top deputy at the Pentagon is Christopher "Ryan" Henry. Henry was a corporate vice president for strategic assessment and development at SAIC until October 2002.