October 4, 2002
Iraq Intelligence Tension

On 4 October '02 US Intelligence agencies published a joint public assessment on the Iraq threat. It noted that, if Iraq was left unchecked (which it has never been), it could "have a nuclear weapon during this decade." Further, if Iraq can acquire weapons-grade fissile material from abroad, "it could make a nuclear weapon within a year." Iraq is capable of "quickly producing and weaponizing" a variety of agents, including anthrax, "for delivery by bombs, missiles, aerial sprayers, and covert operatives." Discrepancies in Iraq's accounting of its Scud missiles "suggest" that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "retains a covert force of up to a few dozen Scud missiles with a range of 650 to 900 kilometers." It also states that the probability of an unprovoked attack by Iraq on the US is low.

October 7, 2002
Bush's Speech on the Use of Force

Detailed Analysis of October 7 Speech by Bush on Iraq

October 9, 2002
White House 'exaggerating Iraqi threat'

Mr Cannistraro said the flow of intelligence to the top levels of the administration had been deliberately skewed by hawks at the Pentagon.

"CIA assessments are being put aside by the defence department in favour of intelligence they are getting from various Iraqi exiles," he said. "Machiavelli warned princes against listening to exiles. Well, that is what is happening now."

November 4, 2002
Misleading the Nation to War

Pressing for war with Iraq, Bush has been exaggerating his case so much that even CIA analysts are complaining, as a number of newspapers have now reported.

In his national address, Bush stressed the "clear evidence of peril" from Iraq possibly giving chemical and biological weapons to terrorists. But on the day of Bush’s speech, the CIA offered a sharply different evaluation of the risk.

February 13, 2003
CIA Director Caves In

With neither embarrassment nor explanation, the CIA director backtracked on key judgments on Iraq that he gave the Senate committee in a letter of October 7, 2002. Those conclusions were call-them-as-you-see-them judgments in the best tradition of objective CIA analysis. But they brought on severe reflux among those at the White House and Pentagon who prefer to damn the torpedoes and press full speed ahead to invade Iraq.

February 14, 2003
CIA 'sabotaged inspections and hid weapons details'

"Senior democrats have accused the CIA of sabotaging weapons inspections in Iraq by refusing to co-operate fully with the UN and withholding crucial information about Saddam Hussein's arsenal."

"Senator Levin, from Michigan, responded by saying the CIA director had not been telling the truth. Citing a number of classified letters he had obtained from the agency, he said it was clear the CIA had not shared information with the inspectors about a "large number of sites of significant value". (article no longer accessable without purchase)

June 17, 2003
Senator queries WMD claims

"It undermines the credibility of the director of intelligence to be making public statements relative to intelligence which are not factually accurate," Mr Levin said, adding that a lack of confidence in the intelligence services would affect security in the future.

He told reporters that if the public had known that information about alleged top weapons sites was not being shared, there would have been "greater public demand that the inspection process continue".

But the Republican majority in the US Congress has rejected calls for a formal investigation, arguing that any such inquiry could harm the intelligence agencies.

June 17, 2003
Ex-CIA director says administration stretched facts on Iraq

Former CIA director Stansfield Turner accused the Bush administration Tuesday of "overstretching the facts" about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in making its case for invading that country.

Turner's broadside adds the retired admiral's name to a list of former intelligence professionals concerned that the CIA and its intelligence reports were manipulated to justify the war.

Turner's comments come a month after a group of retired U.S. intelligence officers wrote President Bush to "express deep concern" over alleged misuse of intelligence to justify the war.

posted by Cyndy | link | | |