Intelligence Games: Fishing in Murky Waters

(The following story and images by Simon Klingert, are reconstructed from interviews and eye-witness accounts during his embed in Diyala, Iraq in 2008)

"Do we want to have him killed or not?"

The question hung in the air, as the solider followed up with the target's profile:

"We know that he recently abducted a 14- year old kid and is training him to be an assassin. He has ties to the insurgency, but he's more of a criminal than anything else. He is also close friends with the local police chief, who wouldn't be too happy to see him killed."

Captain Bangura sat in the cramped room that served as home and office to the intelligence cell under his command, and took a moment to process the question his intelligence sergeant had put out in the open. As commander of Cobra Troop, (2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment as part of 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division), it would be up to him to decide if the target, this shady figure with ties to the Iraqi insurgency, would live or die.

In early 2008, the violence in Iraq had calmed somewhat. U.S. and Iraqi security forces had pushed insurgent groups from their strongholds in cities like Baghdad and Baqubah, forcing them to retreat to the Northern city of Mosul and to more rural areas, such as in restive Diyala governorate. In this area, about 15 Kilometers (9 Miles) North of Baqubah lies the quiet town of al Khalis, where Captain Bangura had set up shop at Joint Combat Outpost Blackfoot.

The outpost's strategic emplacement in a residential neighborhood in close proximity to an Iraqi Police station and the local Bazaar was part of the then new counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN) that required troops to move off their big Forward Operating Bases and live amongst the population they sought to protect.

While it is hard to gauge exactly which factors brought the relative calm to al Khalis, one element stood out as a reliable indicator of the improved security: The amount of information or "human intelligence" coming from the local populace. The near constant presence of U.S. troops instilled a sense of security in the neighborhood, which enabled residents to covertly rely information to the military without the fear of immediate insurgent retribution. Even so, appearing to be close friends with the Americans was still considered hazardous to ones health in Iraq.

In the end it was strategy that kept the criminal suspect alive. His partnership with the Iraqi Police and their commander was too important to jeopardize, given the fact that the local security forces also played their part in securing the town.

After the meeting, Sergeant Hines, the man in charge of the intelligence cell at the combat outpost, sat on his cot and started to explain. Fearing that the preceding discussion might have created a distorted image of intelligence operations, he pointed out the possibilities as well as the limits of methods used to collect intelligence. He took his M16 assault rifle, checked that it was on safe, laid it on his lap and slowly moved the barrel in my direction.

"I cannot even do this when I interrogate suspects," he said, the barrel of his rifle pointing menacingly in my direction. "I try to extract information by opening and closing doors. I thoroughly explain the situation to the suspects I interrogate, and offer them various benefits if they cooperate. For example, that I can make sure their families will be provided for if they are sentenced to jail."

With regards to the darker side of his job, Sergeant Hines in a matter- of-fact tone suggested a method to eliminate a person: "If we really decide a target should be killed, we would set up a meeting with him, invite his worst enemy and simply wouldn't show up."

In a country where conflicts are often resolved with arms, this seemed to be an efficient method to get an enemy out of the way.

But his rifle wasn't Sergeant Hines' most important tool. Almost constantly, he checked his cell phones. There were five of them, neatly arranged in a row on the single table that dominated the room. Every now and then, he would receive calls from informants who either lived in the town or the surrounding area. As time progressed, his Arabic language skills had put him in a position to build personal relationships with his sources. As a result, a relatively constant flow of intelligence kept coming in, but it came with an increased responsibility to protect his sources, who knowingly risked a violent death at the hand of the insurgents.

Only when a real threat to one of his informants emerged, would Sergeant Hines bring his rifle.

A trick to protecting informants

The Cobra Troopers entered the courtyard and dispersed quickly, their weapons raised. Some of them swiftly climbed the stairs to the roof while others stormed inside the house, passing the anxious looking Iraqi women who opened the door. Running upstairs in a blur, there were shouts and the bang of more doors. One soldier entered what seemed to be the bedroom and began to rifle through the closet, looking for weapons or other suspicious items.

Meanwhile Sergeant Hines, together with an Iraqi interpreter and other soldiers at his side started to question a middle-aged man who turned out to be the homeowner's brother.

"Where is you brother, we are looking for him. When have you last seen him?" Sergeant Hines said using a stern voice. "We have information from– he named a local insurgent who had recently been arrested by coalition forces– that you brother is supporting the insurgency. Where is he?"

The brothers face changed from disbelief to anger: "God is my witness, my brother has nothing to do with the insurgency! Anyone who claims that is a liar!"

It quickly became apparent that the man either did not know his brother's location or was not willing to give away, so the soldiers went on to question some of the neighbors who had come out on the street. The suspect's brother was left alone standing in the courtyard, visibly distraught.

Little did he know that in reality the soldiers were looking to protect, not apprehend his brother. He was a local shop owner who sought to maintain the calm by providing Sergeant Hines with valuable information about insurgents operating in the area. With the shop owner's consent, the soldiers of Cobra Troop had simply put up a show to deflect suspicions from him, as rumors began circulating in the neighborhood that he was working with the Americans.

With the neighbors and even his own brother thinking the U.S. military was after him for suspected connections with the insurgency, these rumors were blunted. The source had come off the hook and was left to swim in the murky waters where intelligence operations are carried out. In Iraq early 2008, nothing was as it seemed.