INIS: Iraq
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) was established in 2004. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Paul Bremer disbanded the Iraqi military and security services.
After the disbandment the objective was setting up a new secret service with the help of the CIA. US involvement, effectively ensures they have the right people in the right places with ears on the ground. In these sort of environments, technology can only get you so far, as we saw with Osama bin Laden who was able to evade the most advanced surveillance systems in the world for a decade. Furthermore; it is reported that the creation and recruitment for INIS was funded by the CIA. The main objective of INIS is to counter insurgency.
The involvement of foreign states in the development of such ‘rouge’ nations as Iraq is of interest to neighbouring countries. Similarly we see intelligence services distributing misinformation and attempting to manipulate elections to further their agenda.
In July 2015, the relatively infantile INIS claimed to have uncovered a spy ring working for Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Service. Following these claims Iraqi television screened the public confessions of the alleged ‘traitors’. The Iraqi television presenter said the spies were a sign of hatred towards the Iraqi people.
The footage showed the accused men describing their alleged involvement with western intelligence agencies. Jemal Majid Nadir is 39 and a Kurd from Irbil. He told Iraqi television that he had been approached by an intelligence officer to work in UN military co-ordination as a spy and had been doing so for some years. He claimed they gave him money and equipment to carry out his tasks. Several objects such as a suitcase with a secret compartment, and a personal organiser modified for hiding documents were shown as evidence. Nadir also said they gave him special photographic equipment and taught him to develop pictures. Footage and sketches of others also accused of espionage were shown in the broadcast.
Nadir was since sentenced to death in August 2011. See video below.
The invasion of Iraq was based on stopping the use of chemical warfare and the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Whilst it is reported that no WMDs were found and that the hidden agenda was to indebt Iraq for their oil reserves, the risk remains that left over chemical weapons may be hidden under a pile of dirt in the middle of the desert. It is very possible that this information may be known by some of Saddam’s officers or the soldiers who buried it themselves and may be looking to profit by its sale or used in a forceful takeover.
It is however known that the war on Iraq was as a result of failed intel, falsified documentation and disinformation originating from the Italian AISE agency and two Iraqi agents. The subsequent public enquiry brought to light that the Intel was ‘sporadic, patchy’ and ‘limited’. However; even with evidence that the leaked documents were fake, the CIA the Bush administration relied upon this to initiate offensive military action.
Note; it was reported that INIS was funded by the CIA for its main objective of counter insurgency, recruiting many agents from Saddam’s previous intelligence service, the process including a CIA polygraph test. It is more common for private firms to use such tests as part of the recruitment process as well as reviewing social media. It is imperative that communications are compartmentalised and that double agents do not compromise your operations.
In mid-2004, ten INIS agents were killed by the Badr Organization, with the VAJA and the Iranian Embassy being accused of orchestrating the hit. Eight were assassinated by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi‘s Al-Qaeda in Iraq according to Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwan — INIS first director.
Sources have revealed that in shaping Iraq’s Government there are other neighbouring factions such as Iran (VAJA), that have an interest in how this develops and have been seen to be interfering in the political process.
