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US military warned Iraqis of Baghdad attacks
Source: Agencies |
December 15, 2009, Tuesday
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THE United States military confirmed yesterday it had warned Iraqi officials about possible attacks in Baghdad the same day bombers struck government sites in the country's capital last week.
The US military stopped short, though, of saying the intelligence provided to the Iraqis gave any insight into specific details of the attacks that killed 127 people. It was the third such large-scale strike in Baghdad since summer.
"While the information did address possible attacks that day, there was no specific actionable intelligence that correlated the threat ... to these attacks," Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros said in a statement.
Ballesteros' statement confirmed what Iraq's top security chiefs have told lawmakers in hearings in parliament this week - that they were tipped off on Tuesday by the US military, hours before suicide bombers struck government sites.
According to Iraqi officials, the Baghdad operations command was called in the early morning hours and told of three potential car bomb attacks, including one near the Green Zone. But there wasn't enough time to act, the security chiefs told lawmakers.
The US military routinely shares intelligence with Iraq's security commanders, Ballesteros said, adding that "information was shared on the morning of December 8th" in the same manner. He did not provide details. The lawmakers, meanwhile, began a fourth day of hearings yesterday with government officials over security breaches that allowed the attacks to happen.
The session started behind closed doors, and the lawmakers were expected to make recommendations about security improvements and possibly increase funding for security, according to a statement on the parliament Website.
During three previous days of hearings in parliament, Iraq's ministers of interior, defense and national security were grilled by angry lawmakers demanding answers as to how bombers eluded security in heavily protected downtown Baghdad.
The US military stopped short, though, of saying the intelligence provided to the Iraqis gave any insight into specific details of the attacks that killed 127 people. It was the third such large-scale strike in Baghdad since summer.
"While the information did address possible attacks that day, there was no specific actionable intelligence that correlated the threat ... to these attacks," Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ballesteros said in a statement.
Ballesteros' statement confirmed what Iraq's top security chiefs have told lawmakers in hearings in parliament this week - that they were tipped off on Tuesday by the US military, hours before suicide bombers struck government sites.
According to Iraqi officials, the Baghdad operations command was called in the early morning hours and told of three potential car bomb attacks, including one near the Green Zone. But there wasn't enough time to act, the security chiefs told lawmakers.
The US military routinely shares intelligence with Iraq's security commanders, Ballesteros said, adding that "information was shared on the morning of December 8th" in the same manner. He did not provide details. The lawmakers, meanwhile, began a fourth day of hearings yesterday with government officials over security breaches that allowed the attacks to happen.
The session started behind closed doors, and the lawmakers were expected to make recommendations about security improvements and possibly increase funding for security, according to a statement on the parliament Website.
During three previous days of hearings in parliament, Iraq's ministers of interior, defense and national security were grilled by angry lawmakers demanding answers as to how bombers eluded security in heavily protected downtown Baghdad.
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