In his struggle to figure out and foil the U.S. invasion plan as it was unfolding in late March and early April 2003, Saddam Hussein may have fielded a few tips from an old ally: the Russian government.
But it seems possible the Russians' help created more confusion than clarity for the former Iraqi leader.
As described in a lengthy report released Friday at the Pentagon, Iraqi documents captured by U.S. troops say the Russians collected information about U.S. troop movements and battle plans at the outset of the invasion by tapping sources inside the U.S. military. And the documents say the intelligence was passed to Hussein.
In at least one case, the Pentagon report suggests the information did more harm than good for Hussein. In fact it may have reinforced in Hussein's mind a mistaken impression about the timing of the U.S. ground assault into Baghdad -- an impression that permitted U.S. forces to preserve an element of surprise.
The unclassified Pentagon report does not assess the value or accuracy of the information Hussein got or offer details on Russia's information pipeline. The report cites captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians had "sources inside the American Central Command" and that intelligence was passed to Hussein through the Russian ambassador.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's United Nations mission in New York, said the allegations are false.
The Iraqi documents leave unclear who may have been the sources at Central Command's war-fighting headquarters, which is at Camp As Saliyah just outside Doha, the capital of Qatar. No Russians were authorized to be at the closely guarded base.
A classified version of the report, titled "Iraqi Perspectives Project," is not being made public. It was assembled by U.S. Joint Forces Command, which reviewed an array of captured Iraqi documents.
Among the information the Iraqis said they received from the Russians was that the ground assault on Baghdad would not begin until the Army's 4th Infantry Division was in place, around April 15. Because the original invasion route from Turkey was blocked by the Turkish government, the ground assault began April 7.
