Speedkill

That title is even too forgiving.

U.S. Recruiting Hussein’s Spies

BAGHDAD, Aug. 23 — U.S.-led occupation authorities have begun a covert campaign to recruit and train agents with the once-dreaded Iraqi intelligence service to help identify resistance to American forces here after months of increasingly sophisticated attacks and bombings, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The extraordinary move to recruit agents of former president Saddam Hussein’s security services underscores a growing recognition among U.S. officials that American military forces — already stretched thin — cannot alone prevent attacks like the devastating truck bombing of the U.N. headquarters this past week, the officials said.

I’d say it’s more a move of desperation and carelessness. Desperate to stop the attacks, careless enough to recruit people who are, in all likelyhood, unsavory characters who aren’t going to be especially gentle with Iraqis. And would YOU feel safe if the people who terrorized you were brought back into the fold? Winning the hearts and minds.

Billmon has some good comments on this.