US uses spy satellites to keep an eye on Iraqi army

Washington: Caught off guard by recent Iraqi military operations, the United States is using spy satellites that ordinarily are trained on adversaries to monitor the movements of the US-backed Iraqi army, according to current and former US officials.

The stepped up surveillance reflects breakdowns in trust and coordination between the two forces.

Officials said it is part of an expanded intelligence effort launched after American commanders were surprised by the timing of the Iraqi army's violent push into Basra three months ago.

The use of the satellites puts the United States in the unusual position of employing some of its most sophisticated espionage technology to track an allied army that American forces helped create, continue to advise, and often fight alongside.

US satellites are "imaging military installations that the Iraqi army occupies", said a former US military official, who said slides from the images have been used in recent closed briefings at US facilities in the Middle East. "They're imaging training areas that the Iraqi army utilises. They're imaging roads that Iraqi armoured vehicles and large convoys transit."

Military officials and experts said the move shows concern by US commanders about whether their Iraqi counterparts will follow American guidance or keep their coalition partners fully informed.

"It suggests that we don't have complete confidence in their chain of command, or in their willingness to tell us what they're going to do because they may fear that we may try to get them not to do it," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a Web site about intelligence and military issues.

The expanded satellite surveillance comes as the Iraqi military has embarked on a series of large-scale operations to reassert government control in areas, including Sadr City and Mosul, that have been havens for insurgents.

Basra assault

The first of the operations, launched in March, was an assault in the southern port city of Basra on Mahdi Army.

Among the forces Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki deployed were units that had just completed training and did not have a US team assigned to them, which may help explain why US commanders were so caught off guard.

Adm Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last month: "They moved a division inside a few days. And a year ago the Iraqi security forces could never have moved those kinds of forces."

Iraq's parched terrain has been a focal point of US spy satellites for nearly two decades. Satellites were used to capture images of suspected chemical and biological weapons sites before the war, although the suspicions were proved unfounded, and continue to be used to track insurgent movements and the influx of arms from Iran.

But in recent months, US intelligence agencies have aimed the spacecraft's high-resolution lenses at Iraqi military positions, and instructed imagery analysts to monitor those units for signs that they are preparing to deploy, officials said.

"What the satellites can do that Predators can't is they can see the country," the former official said. "They can detect big movements every day: That the Iraqi 4th Infantry division is here. That Iraqi special forces moved from here. That there is a set of 12 vehicles congregated south of Samara."

The use of satellites reflects a gradual shift taking place as the Iraqi government becomes more independent from its US sponsor, and the two countries' interests diverge.

Iraq has recently taken a series of steps, including providing a red-carpet reception in March for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that demonstrate it doesn't intend to remain a US client.

US spy agencies have been active in the country from the beginning, keeping close tabs on Iraqi politicians and influential groups.

Officials said the satellite surveillance is aimed to a large degree at making sure US commanders know where the Iraqi army is operating so the two forces don't collide.

"You have an independent army for an independent nation conducting independent operations," said the senior US intelligence official. "To know where that army is so you don't have an unintended consequence would seem like a benefit."

American spy satellites are operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), a US intelligence agency based in Chantilly, Virginia, that is so secretive that its existence was not declassified until 1992. Rick Oborn, a spokesman for NRO, declined to comment.

'Keyhole'

Experts said that the Iraq surveillance likely involves what are known as 'Keyhole' satellites. NRO is believed to operate at least six of these satellites.

Pictures from the latest versions of the Keyhole cover about eight square kilometres of surface area, Richelson said, producing images detailed enough to allow analysts to spot a license plate, but probably not read its numbers.

It suggests that we don't have complete confidence in their chain of command, or in their willingness to tell us what they're going to do because they may fear that we may try to get them not to do it."