In the current Weekly Standard, Stephen F. Hayes has a piece on the enormous volume of documents captured in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. Hayes writes:
There are many such documents in a U.S. intelligence database known as HARMONY. One example: Document number ICSQ-2003-00025586 was captured by the U.S. military during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Here is the synopsis of that document that appears in the database: Category: Al Qaida Title: Letters, logbook, training manual from Al Qaida Chemical Plant regarding Chem Warfare Short Description: Contains papers concerning Iraqi officials, prices of equipment, training plans, and actions by high level officers all concerning chemical warfare Agency: DIA Document Date: Feb-02 Document #: ICSQ-2003-00025586 What does it mean? I’m not sure. On the one hand, any document under the heading “Al Qaida” that mentions “chem warfare” and “Iraqi officials” is inherently interesting. On the other, we don’t know what the document tells us. Just as it is possible that the document reveals Iraqi complicity in al Qaeda’s efforts to secure WMD, it is conceivable that the “papers concerning Iraqi officials” include indications that Iraqis rejected al Qaeda overtures for assistance on chemical warfare. Although some HARMONY documents are flagged as being of suspect authenticity, this one is not flagged. Still, it is possible that it is a fabrication and was entered into the database without an assessment of its authenticity. I can’t answer these questions. Someone probably can.
