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Among the documents found in Saddam's briefcase when he was captured
last weekend was a list of names of Iraqis who have been working with the
United States — either in the Iraqi security forces or the Coalition
Provisional Authority — and are feeding information to the insurgents, a
U.S. official told ABCNEWS.
"We were badly infiltrated," said the official, adding that finding the
list of names is a "gold mine."
The United States has been rapidly recruiting Iraqis to take over
security in the war-torn nation. Some 162,000 Iraqis have been trained in
the areas of civil defense, police and other security activities since
May.
On a recent trip to Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was told
by the commander of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division that every two
or three weeks the military discovers someone who should not have made it
through the vetting process.
William Rosenau, who once served in the Pentagon's Office of Special
Operations, says the spies could have caused great harm.
"They could conceivably disrupt operations directed against you. They
can throw sand in the gears, they can spread disinformation," said
Rosenau. "They are going to be able to tell you what those forces are
trying to do, what their equipment is like, what their tactics are going
to be and so on."
With the attacks continuing in Iraq, the U.S. military can now use the
list to seek out the infiltrators and, officials hope, stop some of the
damage they may be causing.
Pentagon officials with whom ABCNEWS spoke were not surprised about the
infiltration. It is a common tactic that certainly happened in Vietnam,
they said. But what they continue to worry about are infiltrators whose
names are not on the list. 
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