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Salman Pak - Iraq's own terrorist training camp
 
Two Iraqi Military defectors, an unnamed former Lt. General and a Captain Sabah Khodada recently gave details of an Iraqi school at Salman Pak which includes training for the hijacking of passenger airliners and other modes of transportation. The former Iraqi General said that there was a old Boeing 707 resting next to rail tracks on edge of Salman Pak being used in terrorist training, the existence of this aircraft has been confirmed by UN. Inspectors.
 
The General, who had been the Security Officer in charge of the camp also reported that there were mixed nationality units including Saudi's, Egyptians and Chechens at Salman Pak. Usually about 40 strong, these terrorist units received upto five months of intensive training.  However the terrorist units were actually under the control of Iraq's Al- Mukhabarat Intelligence Service and in particular a section called the Division of Special Operations. Much of this was also confirmed by Captain Khodada.

The foreign fighters were segregated from Iraqi military personnel and Saddam Husseins own Fedayeen, except during certain specific training sessions. The overall training program included assassination, kidnapping, sabotage or hijacking of aircraft, buses, trains, sabotage of public utilities and most importantly of all, in the use of Chemical, Biological and possibly crude nuclear devices.
 
However, the training also included how to prepare and carry out suicide attacks and involved how to get access to the flight cabin, getting weapons on board, security weakness, terrorizing the passengers and crew.  Captain Khodada stated " Those 'Arabs' are real volunteers. They come in small numbers, and they come with the intention to do some real suicidal operations. "
 
" It has been said openly in the (Iraqi)media and even to us, from the highest command, that the purpose of establishing of establishing Saddam’s Fedayeen Fighters is to attack American targets and American interests. This is known. There is no doubt about it.
All this training is directed towards attacking American targets, and American interests."
 
Khodada added "The training does not only include hijacking of planes and sabotage, some of the people were trained to do parachuting. Some other areas were training on how to penetrate enemy lines and get information from behind enemy lines. But its all for the general concept of hitting and attacking American targets and American interests. "
 
The worldwide terrorist threat
 
While no hard evidence was provided of a link between Iraq and Al Qaida or the Palestinians, the overall impression given by these two defectors and information made available from European Intelligence officials is that Iraq's training camps, Al Qaida, Iran's Hezbollah and other non-Muslim groups are part of a determined and highly dangerous international terrorist network that is not controlled from Afghanistan or by Osama Bin-Ladin.
 
With CIA Special Operations Group personnel already in Somalia, officers from the Agency's Near East Division in discussion with Somali rebels near Berbera and Yemeni Security officials and with the re-deployment of important US military assets there is the imminent prospect of the conflict spreading to new areas.   However, as with the war in Afghanistan, this will just be another serious distraction from coming to terms with the real long-term terrorist threat.
 
Most of the really effective international terrorists are long-term sleepers, planted within Western nations over the years. They may be your dentist, your tax adviser or that nice family who moved in next door five years ago. These are the planners and organizers who prepare the ground for the suicide bomber or aircraft hijacker who arrive a few months ahead of an operation.
 
B52 bombing strikes and daring Special Forces operations make good copy, but the real work to dismantle the Al Qaida and other terrorist networks will eventually be down to the
internal security forces such as the FBI, MI-5, DST or even to national Police forces. It is indeed going to be a long and difficult war and it is vitally important that the first casualty is not the very democracy, individual freedom and respect for justice we seek to defend.
 

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