Iraqi Leads U.S. Troops to War Plans, Security Documents

Alerted by an Iraqi who said he had worked for Baath Party and Republican Guard officials, U.S. troops Thursday discovered thousands of documents describing war plans, computer security and military bonuses.

The Iraqi led a U.S. special operations team to safes and a document-storage area in buildings once occupied by senior Iraqi military and government officials.

In the storage area, located in the basement of a concrete building that had been a military headquarters, the American team found thousands of documents stored on shelves and in cabinets. In a suitcase left in a small alleyway, the soldiers found Republican Guard papers titled “Emergency Planning for War.”

The documents, some dated as recently as March 10, discussed where to position three Republican Guard divisions, according to Jamal Jamal, an Iraqi translator working for the U.S. military. The papers, which bore the Republican Guard seal and letterhead, also detailed a plan dated Feb. 27 and never carried out to store fuel in the Tigris River.

In a computer room in the basement, the team found files describing how to build computer firewalls to prevent Iraqi citizens from hacking into the military’s secure network. Other documents discussed training soldiers in computer security.

The suitcase and other papers were removed for further study.

In a nearby private mansion damaged by U.S. bombings, the former employee led the special operations team to several locked safes. The soldiers blew open two safes, finding a briefcase containing computer printouts listing annual bonuses paid to senior government and military officials.

On Jan. 6, 2000, for instance, a senior commander in the Republican Guard received a bonus of 1 million dinars -- or $800 at that day’s exchange rate. On the same day, Information Minister Mohammed Said Sahaf received a bonus of 2 million dinars, worth $1,600.

Jamal, the interpreter, said other documents indicated that the officials were expected to share the bonuses with members of their staffs.

The former employee, who said he had worked for government officials for 19 years, said he knew the locations of other safes containing jewelry and other valuables. The homes and offices are in the same exclusive neighborhood at the edge of the Presidential Palace complex where U.S. troops have discovered hidden caches containing a total of about $780 million.

Special operations units and other military and civilian teams have been searching homes and offices for evidence relating to war crimes, chemical or biological weapons or the whereabouts of former top government officials, including Saddam Hussein.