WMD Panel to Fault Intelligence Agencies

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/29/05 | Katherine Schrader - AP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - President Bush's commission on weapons of mass destruction will castigate U.S. intelligence agencies for their continued failure to share information after numerous reforms aimed at improving coordination, federal officials said Tuesday.

One official familiar with the commission's workings, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report also goes into great detail on why prewar intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs turned out to be flawed. The report is scheduled to be released Thursday.

The report examines factors that might have led to errors, the official said, such as whether policy-makers were seeking preconceived conclusions, whether foreign intelligence agencies had reached similar conclusions and whether analysts had little information to work with.

The panel considered a range of intelligence issues going beyond Iraq, including congressional oversight, satellite imagery and electronic snooping. Among numerous soft spots, officials familiar with the findings say "human intelligence" — the work of actual operatives on the ground — is lacking.

In the three years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. intelligence apparatus has been revamped. At Congress' direction, the government is establishing a new intelligence chief — a director of national intelligence — and new centers to focus on counterterrorism and counterproliferation.

Yet the nine-member panel is expected to recommend steps to ensure that information flows more freely among the 15 agencies that comprise the intelligence community. The commission will blame enduring cultures at each agency for driving decisions to prevent intelligence sharing among them, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A lesson learned from the report is that the information belongs to the entire government, not one agency, the officials said. That will require people — not just better technologies — to find improved methods of sharing and coordination.

The report will stress the importance of management and leadership, officials said, as well as call for a renewed emphasis on questioning assumptions in intelligence analysis. Even before the report, intelligence analysts were faulted for rejecting information that contradicted presumptions that Iraq had active weapons of mass destruction programs before the 2003 invasion.

The report took more than a year of work, and the White House has taken pains to signal it is taking the panel's findings seriously.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush would discuss the report with Cabinet members on Thursday, immediately after the president meets with the full commission.

"Making sure we have the best possible intelligence is critical to protecting the American people," McClellan said. "We will carefully consider the recommendations and act quickly on the recommendations as well."

Bush created the commission under pressure after U.S. inspectors failed to find any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, despite prewar administration assertions about deadly stockpiles.

Under orders from Bush, the commission has assessed whether U.S. intelligence agencies are sufficiently organized, equipped and trained to warn the government about the threat of WMD from foreign entities, including terror groups.

Bush also asked the commission to consider the merits of recent intelligence reforms, including the new counterproliferation center and the post of national intelligence director, to which Bush has nominated John Negroponte, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and to Iraq.

U.S. officials say the commission took apart the Iraq intelligence with a highly critical eye, including the misstated estimates on the former regime's efforts to obtain yellowcake uranium from Africa, its biological weapons capabilities and its purported mobile weapons labs.

For each issue, such as biological weapons or nuclear weapons, the report looks at what intelligence agencies believed about the Iraq's capabilities before the war and compares that to the findings afterward. It then seeks to explain the reasons for the discrepancies.

The commissioners have assembled numerous detailed recommendations for intelligence operations, the officials said. Most will have to be implemented by the national intelligence director or other parts of the executive branch and will not require legislation.

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., a commission member, said the panel, led by Republican Laurence Silberman and Democrat Charles Robb, reached nearly unanimous conclusions.

"We argue over certain points, but there has never been any major disputes," he said. "A lot of times it's wording, and what words mean. We've had a remarkably congenial commission."

[CyberAnt]

WOW! You mean it's not all Bush's fault ..??

[Chu Gary]

I'm sure the reports will include the data illustrating how the Klintoons gutted the intel services, cutting budgets by up to 50% and getting rid of lots of people, some of whom were replaced by Dim political hacks.

[SunkenCiv]

If The Bush Administration Lied About WMD,
So Did These People
compiled by John Hawkins

"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." -- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002

"Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." -- Al Gore, 2002

---

Saddam's Bombmaker by Khidhir Hamza with Jeff Stein

---