Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

• At the 3 November 2002 meeting, Cloud wasbrought in due to his expertise and experience inobtaining equipment in support of the Dawa II.Fadil, Cloud, and Saeed discussed technical issuesindicating he could provide solutions throughFadil’s office.• Fadil, Cloud, and Saeed also discussed the technicalspecifications of Radioson equipment, directionfinding equipment, and a land-based station thatwas tabled in a previous meeting.• Saeed, Fadil, and Cloud discussed the possibilityof obtaining or constructing a base to manufacturemicrowave parts, passive and active sensors, signalenhancers, and low distortion components. Cloudpromised to provide Saeed and Fadil with informationregarding these electronic warfare products.• A second document identified as a technicalcooperation memorandum outlines Saeed’s meetingwith Cloud. The memorandum was presentedto the General Manager of the Al Kindi ElectronicWarfare/Radar Research Center. The documentconfirms that a meeting took place as scheduledwith Saeed, Fadil, and Cloud.• Fadil, Saeed, and Cloud agreed to cooperate soCloud could facilitate the transfer of high frequency(HF), microwave, and passive radar militaryrelatedtechnology to Iraq. A memorandum of ‘‘4November’’ (probably 2002) requests permission toproceed with the technological transfer process.2002-2003: Iraq’s MIC May Have Attempted ToProcure French Roland Missile PartsA source related that Iraq attempted to acquire battlefieldand air defense technology 25 days before theonset of OIF.• Beginning in late December 2002, the Iraqi MICinitiated efforts to acquire replacement parts forthe Roland II surface to air missile system, valvesfor Iraq’s air defense system, and various otherhigh technology items with military and battlefieldapplications. These efforts were underway up until23 days before the onset of hostilities. The MICCommercial Section corresponded with MajdaKhasem Al-Khalil (a Lebanese female) who in turnmet directly with the French Thompson Companyregarding the acquisition of the missile parts.Al-Khalil later provided samples of night visiongoggles and protective Kevlar devices to the MIC.The paragraphs below describe the development ofthis effort as portrayed from the Iraqi side.• On 25 December 2002, a high level MIC officialrequested permission to acquire ‘hard cables’ forIraq’s air defense headquarters. The MIC officialsupplied Al-Khalil, Sour Debbar, and Dr. AwadAl-Souri as points of contact capable of supplyingthese materials. Al-Khalil was described as “theLebanese.”• On 22 February 2003, Ra’ed Ismail Jamil, GeneralManager of the Salahadin General Company, and aBrigadier General Hassem discussed the purchaseof parts for the Roland II system with Al-Khalil.A communication sent the same day by Jamil andHassem notified the MIC Deputy Minister that,based on his orders, they invited Al-Khalil to reach“clear and final agreements” regarding subjectsalready discussed and that they had arranged for hersafe passage with border control.• During a meeting with Jamil and Brigadier Hassem,Al-Khalil mentioned that she met with Frenchexperts regarding to rehabilitating Iraqi Roland IIparts. Al-Khalil had learned from those experts thatit was not possible to rehabilitate those parts dueto their deteriorated state, but it was possible toprovide 50 new parts at the same price to repair theold ones. The 50 new parts met the same technicalspecifications the Iraqi MIC stated for the old parts.Al-Khalil informed Jamil and Hassem that she providedthe French experts with technical questionsand designs. The aforementioned experts addressedthe questions and designs “thoroughly, clearly, andcompletely.”• On the evening of 22 February 2003, Al-Khalilpromised to have the new components within ready30 days of the ministry’s acceptance of the contract.Al-Khalil further agreed to ship the old Iraqi parts272