The General Security Directorate (GSD) (مديرية الامن العامة, ''Mudiriyat al-Amn al-Amma'') was the

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informati ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. Although details on its organisation were not made clear at the time, the General Security Directorate's designated mission was to "infiltrate and annihilate Iraq's tenacious insurgency". The GSD was eventually replaced by the

Iraqi National Intelligence Service The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) is an intelligence agency of the Iraqi government that was created in April 2004 on the transitional authority of the Coalition Provisional Authority, following the American invasion of Iraq a year ...

History

After the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer disbanded

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

's military and security services, including the

Mukhabarat ( ar, مخابرات, also transliterated '' / ''), is the Arabic term for intelligence, as used by an intelligence agency. In most of the Middle East, the term is colloquially used in reference to secret police agents who spy on civilians. Org ...

. As the security situation within Iraq deteriorated and Iraqi resistance to the occupation became stronger and more violent, the need for a secret service became more pressing. In December 2003, the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' reported, Iyad Allawi and

Nouri Badran Nuri al-Badran (born 1943) was the Minister of Interior in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council in September 2003. A secular Shiite Muslim, Badran served in the government of Saddam Hussein as ambassador to the Soviet Unio ...

, two members of the Interim Governing Council and

Iraqi National Accord The Iraqi National Accord (Arabic: الوفاق الوطني العراقي ''Al-Wifaq Al-Watani Al-'Iraqi''), known inside Iraq as Wifaq, is an Iraqi political party founded by Iyad Allawi, Tahsin Muallah and Salah Omar al-Ali in 1991. History ...

officials, flew to the US to discuss details of setting up a new secret service with the help of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. The agency was to be headed by Badran and recruit many agents of Saddam's Mukhabarat. The main objective of the new organisation was to counter the insurgency.Iraq Spy Service Planned by U.S. To Stem Attacks: CIA Said to Be Enlisting Hussein Agents
''

'', December 11, 2003 In January 2004, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that the creation of the new agency was under way. It was to employ between 500 and 2,000 staff and be financed by the U.S. government.

Ibrahim al-Janabi Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people w ...

was said to be the main candidate for leading the spy agency. These efforts drew criticism from

Ahmed Chalabi Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi ( ar, أحمد عبد الهادي الجلبي; 30 October 1945 – 3 November 2015) was an Iraqi politician, a founder of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) who served as the President of the Governing Council of ...

, another formerly exiled Iraqi politician who had good connections with the CIA, who voiced worries that the new agency might be used for the restoration of the old Ba'athist security apparatus and follow the well-established pattern of government repression. In March 2004, L. Paul Bremer announced the creation of the

, headed by

Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed al-Shahwani Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani is an Iraqi general and the former director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. Early life and military service Al-Shahwani is a Sunni Turkmen born in either Mosul or KirkukHiro, Dilip. ''Neighbors, Not F ...

and replaced the GSD. The INIS is funded from secret funds set aside within the Iraq appropriation approved by the US Congress. These secret funds, totalling $3 billion over three years, are said to be destined for covert CIA operations within Iraq (as well as, to a small extent,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

).Phoenix Rising
, ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted t ...

'', January 1, 2004 In June 2004, it was reported that the GSD also included ex- Iraqi Intelligence Service agents. It was announced by interim Prime Minister

Iyad Allawi Ayad Allawi ( ar, إيَاد عَلَّاوِي ; born 31 May 1944) is an Iraqi politician. He served as the vice president of Iraq from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018. Previously he was interim prime minister of Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and the ...

at a press conference in July 2004 in a climate of widespread violence by

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

groups and the

Iraqi insurgency Iraqi insurgency may refer to: * Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), part of the Iraq War ** Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006), 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency ** Iraqi civil war (2006–2008), multi-sided civil war in Iraq * Iraqi insurgency (2 ...

References

{{External national intelligence agencies Defunct Iraqi intelligence agencies Organizations disestablished in 2004 2004 establishments in Iraq 2004 disestablishments in Iraq