AUGUST 19 BOMBINGS DEMONSTRATE NEED FOR INCREASED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002709 SENSITIVE SIPDIS JUSTICE FOR ODAG: JJONES, CRM: BSWARTZ, ATF: WJHOOVER, OPDAT: ANORMAN, ICITAP: TBARTLETT STATE PASS TO INL/I, NEA/I E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS IZ KCRM PTER SUBJECT: AUGUST 19 BOMBINGS DEMONSTRATE NEED FOR INCREASED ATF SUPPORT TO GOI REF: A. 08 BAGHDAD 000387 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: During the past year, Embassy Baghdad has seen a dramatic increase in the utilization of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Attach office with regard to explosives and post- blast investigation in support of the Government of Iraq (GOI) and in accordance with the principles and areas of bilateral cooperation outlined in the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) between the US Government (USG) and GOI. In the wake of the 19 August bombings of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Ministry of Finance (MoF),the need for additional specialized ATF support for the Mission and the GOI has become apparent. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) ATF personnel have been in Iraq in support of the US mission since 2003. In 2008, ATF secured a permanent presence at Embassy Baghdad (Ref A). The personnel currently assigned to the office have developed and maintained critical relationships with high-level Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I),US Embassy and Iraq Ministry of Interior (MOI) personnel responsible for conducting violent crime investigations and training. During that time, ATF has mentored and trained MOI personnel in post-blast investigation and bombing incident response. As a result of ATF efforts in the aftermath of the 19 August bombings, the GOI has increased its requests for assistance from the Embassy in the area of explosives exploitation and post-blast investigation. ¶3. (SBU) With the impending withdrawal of US military forces under the Security Agreement (SA),particularly MNF-I,s Task Force Troy and Combined Explosives eXploitation Cell (CEXC),the Embassy,s ATF Attach will assume overall responsibility for all counter- Improvised Explosive Qvice (IED) related assistance to the GOI. This assistance includes response coordination and training as well as on-site post-blast technical guidance and forensic analysis of evidence recovered in bombing incidents. THE AUGUST 19 BOMBINGS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In the aftermath of the August 19 bombings of the MoF and MoFA, which was the largest massQsualty attack post-June 30, the GOI requested USG assistance with forensic investigations at the blast sites. In response, ATF coordinated with several GOI Ministries and their subordinate directorates, DOD entities and USG civilian law enforcement agencies at post. These efforts allowed Post to gain access to the bombing scenes and the ability to examine the scenes and two other Large Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (LVBIEDs) that were recovered and examined by the GOI. During the USG examination of the bombing scenes and LVBIEDs, besides locating key evidence, ATF identified several areas of concern with respect to the GOI,s coordination of incident response, evidence documentation and preservation, and collection procedures. GOI REQUEST/NEED FOR EXPLOSIVES RELATED TRAINING -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Throughout the past year several MOI officials including Minister of Interior Jawad Al Bolani, Senior Deputy Minister Adnan Al Asadi, Deputy Minister Hussein Ali Kamal of the National Information and Investigation Agency (NIIA),and Major General Ahmed Taha Musawi of the MOI Internal Affairs Directorate have made requests for specialized ATF training. In July of this year, Senior Deputy Minister Al Asadi invited ATF to Qyear, Senior Deputy Minister Al Asadi invited ATF to attend a special National Security Council meeting that was convened for the purpose of discussing coordination of post-blast investigation response. ¶6. (SBU) ATF is currently involved in a partnership with the British Embassy and MNF-I,s Task Force Troy to develop explosives evidence exploitation capabilities for the GOI similar to those of CEXC. In the early stages of development, this project, Explosives eXploitation Iraq Transition (EXIT),is designed to mimic the capabilities of BAGHDAD 00002709 002.2 OF 002 CEXC for exploitation of bombing evidence. At the conclusion of the projected two-year EXIT program, the GOI will have the ability to independently exploit explosives evidence for criminal investigations and prosecutions, a capability the GOI does not currently have. As the military drawdown occurs and the CEXC mission diminishes, it will be more critical for the EXIT program to reach its full potential for the GOI to have independent explosives exploitation capability. ¶7. (SBU) In a series of meetings with MOI officials following the investigations of the August 19 bombings, ATF was asked to provide additional post-blast investigation training and critique the overall response efforts. These meetings included MOI Senior Deputy Minister Al Asadi, Deputy Minister Kamal and Major General Taha. Deputy Minister Kamal was particularly receptive to ATF,s guidance with regard to post-blast coordination and investigative issues. In a special multi- directorate meeting convened by Deputy Minister Kamal, ATF was asked to critique the response efforts and provide additional guidance for response to future bombing incidents. INL has agreed to underwrite ATF training organized in response to the MOI,s request. ¶8. (SBU) On September 7, the ATF Attach provided a briefing for the Deputy Chiefs of Mission at Embassy Baghdad regarding the coordination of USG and GOI response to the August 19 bombings. During this briefing, the ATF Attach identified several areas of concern and made recommendations which included conducting/facilitating after-action guidance and mentoring, delivery of additional post-blast investigation training, command and control of bombing incidents and critical incident management for the GOI to develop a team approach to handling major bombing incidents. ATF has since developed a 100 step explosive investigation guide for the MOI to use in developing this team approach, and will provide it to the MOI in coordination with the Multi-National Security Transition Command,s Iraq Training and Advisory Mission (ITAM). CURRENT ATF MISSION -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Embassy Baghdad,s ATF Attach Office staffing for FY2010 includes three special agents; an Attach, Deputy Attach and Assistant Attach. The current ATF mission supports a host of duties to include training, liaison and advisory efforts. The ATF Attach is the USG lead for coordination of assets in response to bombing incidents, weapons investigation and tracing, receipt and dissemination of weapons related information, and training and education needs in the areas of ATF,s expertise. The ATF Attach is continually assessing and reacting to investigative and training needs related to firearms identification and trafficking and explosives identification and post-blast investigation. ATF also provides assistance to US and GOI law enforcement officers as appropriate on topics that are part of ATF,s domestic mission. Additionally, ATF partners with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) in the Weapons Investigation Cell (WIC),established to investigate weapons-related issues. The WIC works jointly with other USG and GOI entities to investigate accountability issues related to weapons distributed by the USG to the GOI as well as individuals who are involved in illegal possession or transfer of such items. HILL