Former Israeli Intelligence Officer Nails Shin Bet on Iraq Lies
The Associated Press reports:
A former Israeli intelligence officer [reserve Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom] charged Thursday that Israeli agencies produced a flawed picture of Iraqi weapons capabilities and substantially contributed to mistakes made in U.S. and British pre-war assessments on Iraq.
General Brom is quoted as saying:
“Israeli intelligence was a full partner with the U.S. and Britain in developing a false picture of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction capability.”
Brom attributes the passing of misinformation to “an inability to think clearly”, and a tendency to “overstate the threat”, but that seems fairly generous of him.
Israel is not unique. The Intelligence communities of most nations reached many of the same conclusions.
Is this a story?
That is far from true. The majority of intelligence from our NATO allies completely contradicted the US/UK/Israel position.
Link? Source?
“[Canadian Deputy PM John] Manley said Canada was not willing to become involved in a U.S.-led strike on Iraq because there was not sufficient evidence that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction or of any link to al Qaeda.”
Canada Won’t Back U.S. Strike on Iraq
“[The New Zealand Foreign Minister, Phil Goff] has been telling our New Zealand Correspondent Gillian Bradford, the United States has not yet built a case to justify war.”
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/s669182.htm
[NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said] “I think if the Americans could produce convincing evidence that there was a link between other countries and the attack that took place, then I think the allies would be seriously interested in that information,” he said Thursday. “But that hasn’t been forthcoming up to this moment.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/01/attack/main327887.shtml
U.N. arms inspectors are privately complaining about the quality of U.S. intelligence and accusing the United States of sending them on wild-goose chases.
Inspectors Call U.S. Tips ‘Garbage’
China’s foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan told a March 6 Beijing press conference that his government endorses the joint statement issued the previous day by the foreign ministers of France, Russia and Germany declaring they would block any new UN resolution authorising a US war against Iraq.
IRAQ: Washington turns UN vote into charade