1.   But some Iraqi dissidents claim the CIA rejected their overtures.

2.   Convinced that the administration is not serious about covert action, some congressional leaders have supported open military assistance to Iraqi dissidents groups.

3.   Iraqi dissidents, Jordanian intelligence agents, and Western diplomats, all referring to a mix of witnesses and other sources, tell differing versions.

4.   It will be hard for America to do, but not as hard as it was for Iraqi dissidents to die waiting for American help.

5.   Last week fresh victims straggled up the highway, none more bitter than Iraqi dissidents who once dreamed that CIA support would help them topple the tyrant in Baghdad.

6.   Some Iraqi dissidents criticized Washington for so far offering computers, fax machines and office supplies instead of military hardware.

7.   That same month, Iraqi dissidents made a coup attempt against Saddam.

8.   The Clinton administration long resisted the idea of arming Iraqi dissidents or fostering insurrection, insisting that the best hope for change lay in a coup from within.

9.   They knew little of Iraqi dissidents, and neither did key U.S. allies.

10.   While the CIA has provided covert support to Iraqi dissidents in the past, this is the first overt military assistance.