Iraqi exile group says WMD intelligence it gave Britain could be false

Yahooooo via AFP ^ | 1/27/04

[areafiftyone]

LONDON (AFP) - An Iraqi exile group in London which claims to have supplied Britain with a key piece of intelligence on Iraqi weapons has admitted that the information might have been false.

The claim that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was able to deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes of the order being given was a headline-grabbing assertion in a British government dossier published in September 2002, in the run-up to the Iraq (news - web sites) war.

It was also at the heart of a row between the British government and the BBC over allegations that Downing Street "sexed up" intelligence on Iraq's weapons ahead of the war.

But Nick Theros the Washington representative of Iyad Allawi, who headed the Iraqi National Accord in exile and is now a member of the Iraqi governing council in Baghdad, said the 45-minute claim was raw information from a single source, part of a large amount of information passed on by the INA to British intelligence.

Theros told the Tuesday's edition of The Guardian newspaper: "We were passing it on in good faith. It was for the intelligence services to verify it."

Theros said the information now seemed to be baseless, a "crock of shit". "Clearly we have not found WMD," he said, referring to Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam's refusal to give up the pursuit of such banned arms was cited by Britain and the United States as a main justification for war.

Theros said the Iraqi officer who claims to have been the original source of the intelligence passed on by the INA had in fact never seen purported chemical weapons crates upon which his 45-minute claim was based.

On Wednesday, a senior British judge is to deliver a long awaited report on the suicide of David Kelly, the weapons expert at the centre of allegations that Downing Street embellished intelligence ahead of the Iraq conflict.

[areafiftyone]

I am wondering if this Iraqi Exile group wanted us to invade sooo badly and oust Saddam, that they intentionally didn't disclose that the info might be false. Just a thought.

[Coop]

It doesn't matter. There was plenty of other corroborating evidence and denial & deception by Iraq for us to go in.

[JohnGalt]

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

George Washington

[areafiftyone]

I hope so. This has not been a good week for Bush when it comes to WMD's.

[jpl]

Man, if these Iraqi exiles like Chalabi or his cohorts truly lied and concocted false testimony to the CIA and all the other governments, their asses should be prosecuted and they should be behind bars.

[Dog]

There is no way all the foreign intelligence services were all wrong.

[Credo]

I'm really beginning to think the WMD scientists in Iraq may have been pretending to be doing things to keep Saddam thinking he had WMD and they were working hard to develop them, but all the while sandbagging their projects.

There was rumour in Gulf War I that Saddam had ordered release of Chemical Weapons on us but his commanders acted like they never received the orders. Of course there's always Syria.

[areafiftyone]

I can't hear you! ;-)

[areafiftyone]

Excuse me. Your post came up blank on my computer and I thought you forgot to type in something. I must be going blind. My error! :-)

[GraniteStateConservative]

Theros said the information now seemed to be baseless, a "crock of shit".

The foreign media rock.

[Coop]

This has not been a good week for Bush when it comes to WMD's.

Why? Because David Kay said there weren't large stockpiles post Desert Storm? Did you actually believe the Iraqi regime - meticulous in its effort to deny, obstruct and deceive - would store WMDs in large stockpiles? It doesn't make sense.

And wasn't it this week where the same David Kay said he felt WMDs were moved to Syria?

[over3Owithabrain]

It DOES matter that the intelligence was so wretched. Ousting Saddam was a noble effort, but losing this much credibility on self-assured pronouncements of weaponry is disastrous, both strategically and politically.

[twigs]

From what I've been hearing, that is indeed the case.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Prosecuted? For what crimes? I don't think they are even American citizens. I doubt what they said was even suggested to be under oath.

[Taliesan]

There is no way all the foreign intelligence services were all wrong.

I'm with you. Even the UN thought he had them. I think they moved them to Syria.

[GraniteStateConservative]

If they all relied on one another to corroborate one another.

[Dog]

Iraq was a police state...I can't by the arguement that the scientists mislead Saddam and his sons. There are 300,000 Iraqi's lying in mass graves.....there is no way the scientists would have fabricated a WMD program.....in that kind of police state.

[r9etb]

There was plenty of other corroborating evidence and denial & deception by Iraq for us to go in.

Not to mention the fact that they had frequently used WMDs in the past.

[GraniteStateConservative]

It was suggested that Saddam was taken for a ride by other countries and his own scientists. They all lied to him and made things up to keep the con going.