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Length: 3:13
SUSAN ROESGEN: And now
this CNN exclusive. With the largest U.S. military
operation since the invasion of Iraq in full swing,
there appears to be emerging signs that America is
fighting yet another enemy.
CNN'S Michael Ware now with exclusive details on how
a manhunt for the people who ambushed and killed U.S.
soldiers led the military down an unexpected path.
Michael?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Susan. What
could be a worrying development for the Middle East
is that the American military has now realized it's
fighting even more enemies in Iraq than it ever knew.
We can reveal to you in this breaking story that the
U.S. military says that it has captured a senior
special operations officer here in Iraq from Lebanese
Hezbollah.
This is the guerrilla organization that fought the
Israeli defense force to a standstill in last
summer's war in Lebanon. The U.S. military says that
this special operations officer from Hezbollah was
sent here to Iraq by Iranian forces, to help build
and guide paramilitary fighters in this country, to
attack and kill American soldiers.
Indeed, when they arrested this man back in March,
and he eventually confessed, the U.S. military
intelligence sources claim that it's now become clear
that this Hezbollah figure played a crucial role in
the attempted kidnapping of five American soldiers in
January here in Iraq that ultimately led to those
soldiers' executions.
Now, according to our intelligence sources and
military sources, this Hezbollah leader and the Iraqi
commanders he was working with have all admitted that
they were part of a broad program being conducted by
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps here in Iraq to
destabilize the American mission by killing American
troops. Susan?
ROESGEN: Michael, can you tell us anything about how
this Hezbollah officer was captured?
WARE: Yes, I can. After the attempted kidnap of the
five American soldiers in January, the order came
down from top American commanders to hunt down the
men responsible, and to kill or capture them.
Now, just a few weeks ago, U.S. and Iraqi forces
killed the man during a raid whom they described as
the mastermind who led the attempt to kidnap the
soldiers.
Now, during the course of their investigation, they
identified the top Iraqi militia leader who commands
the feared "special groups," who'd authorized the
attempt to kidnap the Americans, just like Hezbollah
did with the Israeli soldiers, to spark last summer's
war.
When they grabbed him, they grabbed the Hezbollah
commander. They didn't realize it, though, because
for weeks he played the role of a deaf mute. When his
cover was blown, he eventually confessed.
ROESGEN: Wow, what a story, Michael Ware with an
exclusive CNN report for us today. Thank you,
Michael.
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Length: 5:14
SUSAN ROESGEN: Coming up,
the war in Iraq and the war on terror has gotten even
tougher for U.S. forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The American
military has now realized it's fighting even more
enemies in Iraq than it ever knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: CNN's Michael Ware has the exclusive story
on a new enemy in the war zone.
SUSAN ROESGEN: And now this CNN exclusive. With the
largest U.S. military operation since the invasion of
Iraq in full swing, there appear to be emerging signs
that America is fighting yet another enemy. CNN's
Michael Ware now with exclusive details on how a
manhunt for the people who ambushed and killed U.S.
soldiers led the military down an unexpected path.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These
men are masters of guerilla warfare: Lebanon's
Hezbollah. Last year, they claimed victory over the
might of the Israeli Defense Force. Now believed to
be fighting another war in Iraq.
U.S. intelligence sources say they have captured one
of Hezbollah's top special operations commanders, Ali
Musssa Daqduq. Said to be an expert with these
roadside bombs, his role in Iraq was so covert, there
are no known pictures of him here, save for his
prison mug shot and a confession, which coalition
forces have not released. Captured on March 20 in the
southern city of Basra, the Americans say he and the
Iraqi militia commanders he trained and led admitted
working with Iran's elite Quds Force special
operations unit.
Documents, forensic evidence, and the personal
effects of dead American soldiers seen by members of
the Iraqi government and shown to CNN support their
claims. After months of interviews with Shi'ia
militia members in Iraq, as well as Iraqi government
and intelligence officials, CNN sought the U.S.
military's comments on the arrests, but the military
declined.
However, senior U.S. intelligence officials say their
confirmation of Hezbollah's long rumored involvement
in Iraq began with the January 20 attack on American
soldiers in Karbala, a well-planned attempt to kidnap
five GIs that went horribly wrong, ending with the
soldiers' execution.
Senior U.S. military officials tell CNN that after
the attack, the order came to hunt down the men
responsible and kill or capture them. That mission
has been a stunning success. A few weeks ago, during
a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City slum, American and
Iraqi forces killed this man, Azar al-Dulaimi, said
to be the mastermind who led the Karbala attack.
While Mehdi army militiamen mourned his death in this
memorial in Sadr City filmed by CNN, coalition
operations across the country had already seen most
of those behind the kidnap attempt killed or
imprisoned.
Early results in the U.S. investigation led to this
man, Qais Khazali, seen here in 2003 when he was the
spokesman for rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi
army. By the time of his March arrest, he had left
the Mehdi army and come to head one of the most
feared organizations in the country, known as the
"special groups," a well-trained, well-financed and
efficient paramilitary unit modeled on Hezbollah. And
according to U.S. intelligence sponsored by Iran's
Quds Force, a claim Hezbollah's Daqduq and the Iraqi
leader Khazali have apparently admitted during their
interrogations.
Looking for Khazali, the coalition troops found more
than even they had hoped: computer documents
detailing the planning, training and conduct of the
failed kidnap. What they didn't know is they had also
scooped up Hezbollah's advisor to the Iraqi "special
groups." Originally pretending to be deaf and mute,
Daqduq's real identity was not revealed for weeks.
Once uncovered, though, American officials say he
began to talk.
The Americans now believe his role was crucial to the
Karbala attack. What remains a mystery is why
Lebanese Hezbollah's leadership would risk sending
advisors to Iraq. American intelligence officers
suspect Hezbollah had no choice - indebted to Iran's
Quds Force for its decades of military and financial
support.
Contacted by CNN, a Hezbollah spokesman in Lebanon
said he would not dignify the U.S. allegations with a
response. And though representatives of Iraq's Mehdi
army militia and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr say they
share some of Hezbollah's ideals, they deny receiving
any military aid.
"I say clearly that we do not accept any logistics,
financial, or any other kind of support from anyone
outside the borders of Iraq," says this advisor to
Sadr. The Iraqi government declined to comment. And
though Tehran has repeatedly denied arming or aiding
any militia forces in Iraq, Daqduq's arrest and the
weight of Washington's new evidence of Hezbollah's
presence in Iraq may just demand fresh answers from
Iran.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.