SENIOR EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEF

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06629250
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: December 11, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-02334
• Publication Date: March 19, 2003

Approved for Release: 2017/11/28 C06629250
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SENIOR EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
19 March 2003
PASS SEIB 03-064CHX
Iraq: Regions Set for Central, Southeastern Defense
The assignment of additional military deputies to the regional security commands and
reconfiguration of zone boundaries last weekend suggest Iraq is trying to maximize control of
the Tikrit-Baghdad-Al Kut axis and bolster defense of Al Basrah and the southern oilfields.
Regional commanders will issue instructions if communications with Baghdad are lost.
--The Central Region Command, under Saddam's son Qusay and the Minister of Defense,
includes five of six Republican Guard divisions protecting lines of approach to Baghdad.
-- The Southern Region Command under 'Ali Hasan al-Majid has three military deputies
who possess a breadth of strategic, operational, and administrative experience, including
in the south. Al-Majid, who also was regional commander in 1998, directs regular Army
forces in southern Iraq.
-- The regime probably is counting on al-Majid to stiffen resolve and instill fear in the
dispirited re ular Army units who must respond to coalition forces crossing the Kuwait
border
The Northern Region Command boundaries are unchanged, and Iraqi military forces are
positioned to counter Turkish or Kurdish operations or to undertake contingency plans with little
or no warning. The weakest security zone is the Central Euphrates Region Command, which has
mainly border and security forces to counter a coalition advance.
TOP RET/
Approved for Release: 2017/11/28 C06629250