General calls intelligence 'wrong'-Banned weapons' lack surprises top Marine in Iraq

fortwayne.com ^ | 5-30-03 | Greg Miller

[SJackson]

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. Marine commander in Iraq said Friday that U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in its assessment that Saddam Hussein intended to unleash chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the war, but he stopped short of saying there was an overall intelligence failure. "It was a surprise to me then, it remains a surprise to me now, that we have not uncovered weapons," Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said from Baghdad in a teleconference with reporters in Washington.

"It's not for lack of trying," he continued. "We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there."

Conway said he still believes it is possible that weapons of mass destruction will be found. But his comments are likely to feed concern in Washington that the prewar intelligence on Iraq was flawed.

Amid the mounting criticism, CIA Director George Tenet took the unusual step of issuing a statement Friday denying that the agency's assessments on Iraq were politicized.

"Our role is to call it like we see it - to tell policymakers what we know, what we don't know, what we think, and what we base it on," Tenet said. "That is exactly what was done and continues to be done on intelligence issues related to Iraq."

He added that he was proud of the work done by the agency's analysts, saying, "The integrity of our process was maintained throughout."

Conway, the Marine commander, acknowledged that "intelligence failure" is "too strong a word to use at this point." But he said, "What the regime was intending to do in terms of its use of the weapons, we thought we understood - or we certainly had our best guess, our most dangerous, our most likely courses of action that the intelligence folks were giving us. We were simply wrong. But whether or not we're wrong at the national level, I think, still very much remains to be seen."

Conway's remarks came as the Pentagon disclosed details of its plans to send a new team of more than 1,000 experts to search for evidence of proscribed weapons. Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency's human intelligence service, will lead the effort.

In a separate press briefing Friday, Dayton appeared to acknowledge that it is possible that Iraq deliberately misled U.S. intelligence agencies, making them think that weapons were being produced and deployed even as they were secretly being destroyed.

"We may find out three months from now that there was an elaborate deception program and the stuff was destroyed," Dayton said. Asked whether he believes the new search teams would uncover evidence of illicit munitions, Dayton offered a cautious reply.

"Do I think we're going to find something? Yeah, I kind of do," he said, adding that he still believes the United States' sources of intelligence on Iraq before the war were credible.

The subject of the search for banned weapons is becoming an increasingly uncomfortable one for the Bush administration, with several influential lawmakers this week saying they believe the White House hyped the Iraq threat or was misled by the intelligence community. Other critics have alleged that the Pentagon pressured the intelligence community to skew its analyses.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was largely responsible for arguing the administration's case for the war on Iraq to a skeptical international community, told reporters Friday that all of the evidence he presented at a prewar Security Council meeting was solid.

"Everything I presented on the 5th of February, I can tell you, there was good sourcing for, was not politicized, it was solid information," Powell said. "Let people look into it, let people examine it."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also defended the administration's actions in the months before the Iraq campaign, insisting in a radio interview Thursday, "This war was not waged under any false pretext."

And Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, in an interview with Vanity Fair, sought to minimize the importance of weapons of mass destruction in the administration's calculus for war.

"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on," Wolfowitz said in comments released Wednesday.

Even as senior administration officials sought to deflect criticism, the issue appeared to be gaining momentum in Washington.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she and others based their votes for supporting the war on Iraq on White House claims that Baghdad posed a direct and growing threat to the United States.

"If it turns out that the intelligence was flawed, that will undercut the administration's credibility in making its case for this war and any future war," Harman said. Were the White House to press for confronting Iran or another country now, she said, "there would be a clamor against it until these questions (on Iraq) are answered."

Harman stressed that she believes there is no doubt that Iraq possessed banned weapons in the 1990s but may have destroyed or moved them before the war. She and Rep. Porter J. Goss, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to Tenet recently asking for a report by July 1 reconciling prewar intelligence with what has been found on the ground in Iraq.

The CIA has already launched an extensive review of its intelligence. The post-mortem, reported in the Los Angeles Times on April 19, was planned before the war and is described by agency officials as a "lessons learned" exercise.

Pentagon officials said Friday that U.S. teams have visited about 300 of the more than 900 suspected weapons sites identified before the war. So far, no chemical or biological agents, or even precursor materials, have been recovered.

The United States seized two vehicles in northern Iraq last month that the CIA believes were mobile biological weapons production facilities, although officials acknowledge there is no evidence the trailers were ever used to produce any illegal agents.

On Friday, President Bush told a reporter for Polish television that the trailers were evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

"We found biological laboratories . . . They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two. And we'll find more weapons as time goes on," said the president, who flew Friday to Poland, the first leg of a several-nation tour. "But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."

The Pentagon is in the midst of a major overhaul of its weapons hunt. Dayton said there will be a "decreased emphasis on fixed sites" and a greater focus on combing captured documents and questioning Iraqis for information on weapons programs.

"We're not going to mechanically go down the list and check off locations," he said. He could not say how many of the remaining, unvisited sites had been secured by U.S. forces.

Dayton is scheduled to leave Monday for Baghdad to lead what is being called the Iraq Survey Group, a team of experts, analysts and other workers taking over the mission from existing Army units.

Only 200 to 300 members will be actively involved in the search for banned weapons on a day-to-day basis, Dayton said, a slight increase over the size of existing search teams. And the group's job will also include looking for evidence of links between Saddam and al-Qaida - another allegation the administration has so far been unable to prove - as well as collecting evidence of war crimes.

Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, said it has not been decided whether U.N. teams will be invited to participate in the search for chemical or biological arms, although he suggested it was possible.

Cambone also insisted that he remains convinced that prewar intelligence suggesting the presence of illicit arms was accurate.

"I do not believe the administration is backing away from that position," he said. "Nothing that has happened over the last month has changed my view or, as far as I know, the view of others on the subject."

[independentmind]

The top U.S. Marine commander in Iraq said Friday that U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in its assessment that Saddam Hussein intended to unleash chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the war, but he stopped short of saying there was an overall intelligence failure.

I hope this isn't a career ending move by Conway.

[steve50]

I hope this isn't a career ending move by Conway

Probably will be, I would think Tenet should be the one looking for employment.

[Seti 1]

I hope this isn't a career ending move by Conway.

Nah. He'll issue a "clarification" a la Wolfowitz, express his complete and total confidence in his leaders in the DOD, and state that he fully expects to find WMD today or tomorrow. Of course, there will be no second star.

[SJackson]

The top U.S. Marine commander in Iraq said Friday that U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in its assessment that Saddam Hussein intended to unleash chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces during the war, but he stopped short of saying there was an overall intelligence failure.

I hope this isn't a career ending move by Conway.

If we believe the reporter, only two words in that line belong to Gen Conway, "simply wrong", which makes we wonder about the context. The next few quotes, "It was a surprise to me then, it remains a surprise to me now, that we have not uncovered weapons...It's not for lack of trying... seem to make perfect sense, so I wouldn't worry much about the General.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Conway is just about at the end of the road already.

Lieutenant General James T. Conway Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Lieutenant General James T. Conway currently serves as the Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force. Lieutenant General Conway attended Southeast Missouri State University. He was commissioned in 1970 as an infantry officer and served initially with the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, Camp Pendleton, as a rifle platoon commander and as the Battalion's 106mm recoilless-rifle platoon commander. Subsequently, he served as a company commander in the Infantry Training Regiment; as Executive Officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63); at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego as a series and company commander in the Recruit Training Regiment, as the aide to the Commanding General, and as Director, Sea School. After career level school in 1977, he reported to 3d Battalion, 2d Marines, 2d Marine Division where he commanded two companies and served in the Regiment's S-3. Posted to The Basic School he commanded two companies of officer students and taught tactics. Following intermediate level school, his next tour of duty was as operations officer for the 31st MAU, where he spent 13 months at sea in WESTPAC and in contingency operations off Beirut, Lebanon. Returning to CONUS in July 1984, he was assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps, and later served two years as Senior Aide to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Upon completion of top level school, he was reassigned to the 2d Marine Division serving as Division G-3 Operations Officer before assuming command of 3d Battalion, 2d Marines in January 1990. Under his command Battalion Landing Team 3/2 deployed to Southwest Asia for eight months as the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade's surface assault force. Selected for colonel, he was assigned as the Ground Colonels' Monitor, HQMC. He assumed command of The Basic School on April 30, 1993 and in that role was selected for Brigadier General in December 1995. Re-assigned to the Joint Staff, he served as the Deputy Director of Operations J-3 for Combating Terrorism. He then served as the President, Marine Corps University at Quantico, VA. After being selected for promotion to Major General, he served from July 2000 to August 2002 as the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division, and from August 2002 to November 2002 LtGen Conway served as the Deputy Commanding General Marine Forces Central. In November of 2002 LtGen Conway was promoted to his current rank and assumed command of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. His personal decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with gold stars in lieu of second and third awards, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon. Lieutenant General Conway graduated with honors from The Basic School, the U.S. Army Infantry Officers' Advanced Course, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Air War College. (Revised 15 March 2002)

---

lowres.jpg

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Of course, there will be no second star.

Conway already has three stars, Einstein.

[SJackson]

Of course, there will be no second star.

Your concerns for the General's career are misplaced. Lt. General Conway already has three stars.

[gitmogrunt]

"I hope this isn't a career ending move by Conway."

If Conway was Army or Air Force, he'd probably be finished.

Forunately Marines are known for being straight shooters,not PC ass kissers.

[SJackson]

Conway is just about at the end of the road already.

You never know, he replaced Gen Hagee, the new commandant, assuming this command.

[OREALLY]

Lt. Gen. Conway said it was "too early to say" whether the United States was wrong in charging that Iraq had chemical and biological arms when the invasion begin 2 1/2 months ago. They left that part out of this article. Just a minor detail !

[Brandon]

There is no reason to be calling this an intelligence failure, or for saying "we were wrong" about Iraqi intentions. Does anyone but me remember the speech Dubya gave the Monday before the war started?

And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished. And it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders."

Is it not possible that the Iraqi military did intend to use these weapons, but that the president's comments caused them to have second thoughts -- especially in the lower echelons, who were the people most likely to be caught and punished?

[alnick]

He'll issue a "clarification" a la Wolfowitz

Except that Wolfowitz's "clarification" came before the fact. It was a transcript of what he really said as opposed to what the liars at Vanity Fair wanted people to think that he said.

[ishmac]

I'm surpised Condi Rice hasn't come in for more criticism. She's a major player in the intelligence loop.

[steve50]

I think Rice is more the Russian expert. This seems to boil down to State Dept./CIA vs Rummy and his DoD intelligence gathering outfit. The CIA was hedging their bets on the intel from the start.

I think somebody might have to go to a think tank job over this mess, wither it's Powell, Rummy, or Tenet will be interesting. Or we might just forget about it if the press plays along.

[Incorrigible]

Cartoon may change due to inconsistent URL.

[Lessismore]

What would be the benefit of telling a field commander the true facts of the situation instead of the propaganda story line?