GIS HIT THE GROUND IN SECRET WAR By NILES LATHEM
WASHINGTON - U.S. Special Forces commandos already are secretly operating inside Iraq, The Post has learned.
Military sources said last night that Special Forces teams have been performing liaison and reconnaissance missions in Kurdish-controlled areas in Northern Iraq and in Shiite southern Iraq for several weeks as part of the first steps for a military offensive.
Sources said the Special Forces teams are helping train fighters among the long-repressed ethnic populations in these areas, as well as scouting targets and staging areas for U.S. troops.
For several months, CIA operatives have been working closely with Kurdish and Shiite opposition groups on destabilization operations in protected areas inside the no-fly zones. The CIA has comandeered one of Saddam's former palaces in northern Iraq to use as a headquarters.
But sources said the presence of U.S. and British military commandos in these areas is a new development and a sign that preparations for military action against Saddam Hussein have escalated in recent weeks.
The Special Forces teams are based mostly at the NATO military base in Incirlik, Turkey.