Clinton and China Armed Iraq
Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003
In 1991 U.S. intelligence forces detected a shipment of French-made printers bound for Iraq. The printers were to be used by computers that ran the French-made Kari air defense network sold to dictator Saddam Hussein during the late 1980s.
Unknown to the Iraqis, U.S. cyber-warriors acquired access to the printers as they were being trans-shipped through Jordan. It was here that the first seeds of information warfare began.
American intelligence agents substituted a U.S.-made chip inside the computer printers. The little chip gave allied forces an unfair advantage later in the skies of Iraq.
The special chip did not contain any virus codes or destructive programs. All it could do was squeak.
The special chip was designed to give off a high-frequency radio signal whenever the printer was in use. Each time the Iraqis used their new printers, the chip would squeak. The signal gave allied warplanes the exact position of the computer in the Iraqi air defense system.
Each time the Iraqis would power up a new defense center, the telltale squeak would give away its position, and the allied aircraft would strike.
The squeaky chip was a great idea but not entirely foolproof. One night U.S. war fighters detected a squeak from a previously unused Iraqi bunker in downtown Baghdad. The F-117s quickly struck the site with two laser-guided bombs.
The next day, the allies were horrified to discover that the Iraqi bunker had actually been full of civilians hiding from the bombing raids. Apparently, one of the civilians had decided to power up a computer printer during the night, a move that would later prove to be fatal.
Tiger Song
The next battle between Iraq and allied armed forces will not be so easy. Iraq has updated its Kari air defense network with a Chinese-made fiber-optic system code-named "Tiger Song."
The Tiger Song system is best described as an Internet for surface-to-air missiles. Previous generations of air defense systems had to directly link radar sites to missile batteries.
The classic pattern of Soviet-style air defense missile sites took the form of a six-pointed star. Each point of the star contained one missile launcher, and the radar itself was located at the center along with the command control unit.
Today, using the Tiger Song fiber optic communications system, Iraqi air defense missile sites are spread out, mobile and difficult to detect. Missile launchers, radars and command centers can be placed anywhere as long as they can hook up to the fiber-optic network. Radars, computers, and missiles now share the whole picture carried live over the Tiger Song network.
Allied war fighters have already had a difficult time with Tiger Song. The system allows radars that were previously associated with a specific missile or gun system to trade information. Radar sites for anti-aircraft guns that could not reach high-flying allied planes can now pass target information to large missile launchers, which can reach altitudes over 80,000 feet.
In addition, the Chinese network allows Iraqi missile batteries to move quickly. The network has many hidden prepared positions, ready to be hooked up to a waiting radar, command center or missile launcher. The units are then able to move from position to position, hooking up to the network when necessary.
Clinton Exports to Chinese Army
The ultimate irony is that the Tiger Song system is made from U.S.-manufactured parts and equipment exported to China during the Clinton administration. In 1994, Chinese Gen. Ding Henggao obtained the advanced fiber-optic system through his contacts inside the Clinton administration.
According to documents obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, Ding was a close friend of Clinton Secretary of Defense William Perry. In 1994, Ding had risen to command the Chinese army's military research bureau "COSTIND," or the Commission on Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.
COSTIND, according to the General Accounting Office, "oversees development of China's weapon systems and is responsible for identifying and acquiring telecommunications technology applicable for military use."
Stanford professor John Lewis, a close friend and a paid Defense Department consultant to Perry, was the key board member of the project. In 1994 John Lewis teamed with Gen. Ding to buy an advanced AT&T fiber-optic communications system for "civilian" use inside China.
Defense Department officials initially objected to the proposed sale and would not allow the export to take place. According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, Lewis had his friend Secretary Perry write a letter on his behalf to U.S. government officials, favoring the fiber-optic export to China.
The communications system slipped past U.S. exports laws as a joint U.S.-Chinese commercial venture called "Hua Mei." The Chinese part of the venture was run by a newly formed firm named "Galaxy New Technology."
Democrats and Chinese Generals
Dr. Lewis located Adlai Stevenson III, the former Democrat senator from Illinois, to lead the American side of the joint venture. Gen. Ding's wife, Madam Nie Li, headed the joint project as the Chinese co-chairman.
Lewis then contracted AT&T to ship the secure communication system directly to a Chinese army unit using Galaxy New Technology as a front. AT&T officials who sold most of the equipment and software were adamant that there was no need to check the Chinese firm because a "civilian," Madam Nie Lie, ran the company.
The export took place through Ron Brown's Commerce Department, using a special license waiver that had never been issued before and has never been issued since.
However, the so-called civilian firm Hua Mei was actually packed with Chinese army officers and experts. Madam Nie Lie was not only the wife of Gen. Ding Henggao; Madam Nie was actually Lt. Gen. Nie Lie of the Chinese army.
Another so-called civilian member of New Galaxy Technology, according to a Defense Department document, was Director and President "Mr. Deng Changru." Deng was actually Lt. Col. Deng Changru of the People's Liberation Army, head of the Chinese communications corps.
Still another Chinese army officer on the Galaxy New Technology staff was Co-General Manager "Mr. Xie Zhichao," better known in military circles as Lt. Col. Xie Zhichao, director of the Chinese army's Electronics Design Bureau.
In August 1994, Dr. Lewis and Secretary of Defense Perry traveled to Beijing to meet with Gen. Ding. According to the official list of attendees, Lewis accompanied Perry as his paid "personal" consultant. Thus, Lewis, Perry and Ding met together as the deal for the fiber-optic system was being executed.
Paid by Chinese Army and U.S. Defense Department
In fact, Lewis drew three paychecks for the deal. The documents show that Lewis worked for Stanford University, the Chinese army and for the U.S. Defense Department as Perry's consultant, all at the same time. Neither Perry nor Lewis deny the allegations that they assisted the Chinese army.
In 1994, the Chinese spymaster Gen. Ding personally penetrated the U.S. Defense Department at the highest levels, using his contacts with Secretary Perry to obtain a secure fiber-optic network.
The Clinton Department of Justice, led by the inept Attorney General Janet Reno, refused to investigate the Hua Mei deal despite repeated protests from Congress and the Defense Department.
Instead, the General Accounting Office (GAO) wrote a scathing report noting the military links of the Hua Mei deal and of the failures of the Clinton administration.
"The equipment was exported to Hua Mei without Commerce review, even though the company was partially controlled by several high-level members of the Chinese military," states the GAO report.
In addition, the GAO clearly noted the military value of the Hua Mei deal included, "sharing of intelligence, imagery and video between several locations, command and control of military operations using video-conferencing, and medical support and telemedicine between the battlefield and remote hospitals."
"When used in a military application, both types of equipment requires encryption devices to protect communications from interception," stated the GAO report.
Thanks, Clinton
Thanks to Bill Clinton and his Defense Secretary William Perry, the Chinese army's Electronics Design Bureau modified the American fiber-optic communication system, changing it into the Tiger Song secure air-defense system. The Chinese army then exported the newly modified system to Iraq.
Today, Tiger Song stands ready to kill U.S. pilots.
Thank you, Bill Clinton and William Perry, for your services to the Chinese People's Liberation Army and to the Iraqi armed forces that now protect Saddam Hussein. |
