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Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Israeli intelligence sources and political leaders implicated in false WMD estimates
(Richard H. Curtiss, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Jan/Feb 2004)
The report, titled "The War in Iraq: An Intelligence Failure?" was written by Shlomo Brom, a brigadier general in the Israeli army reserves, and said what no one seems to have dared publish since President George W. Bush decided to wage war on Iraq. Shockingly, it told the full truth about the American and British intelligence "sources" making the case for war. . . . In fact, according to Brom, these sources were utterly compromised by Israeli intelligence, which made the case for starting the war and kept it going as long as necessary. The retired general described Israel as a "full partner" in U.S. and British intelligence failures that exaggerated Iraqi President Saddam Hussain's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs in the lead up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. . . . Israeli intelligence sources and political leaders provided "an exaggerated assessment of Iraqi capabilities," raising "the possibility that the intelligence had been manipulated," wrote Brom, former deputy chief of planning for the Israeli army. . . . Brigadier General Brom's criticism of the Israeli intelligence community-which many Americans believe to be one of, if not the world's best-was unusual. Like many retired intelligence officers, Brom, who retired after a 25-year career, most likely continued to be privy to a great deal of sensitive government information. . . . According to Brom, however, Israeli intelligence "badly overestimated the Iraqi threat to Israel and reinforced the American and British belief that the weapons existed." . . . Attributing the poor intelligence to a lack of professionalism and poor supervision, Brom wrote, "Even if Iraq had any Scud missiles left, I can't understand how Israeli intelligence officers came to believe they threatened Israel, particularly when they hadn't been used in more than 10 years. It's a clear example of how an inability to think clearly is undermining the Israeli intelligence community." . . . As Brom observed in his report, "Israeli intelligence agencies have tended to overstate the threat the country faces ever since 1973." . . . Israeli officials frequently told foreign journalists before the war that Israel and the United States were sharing information, particularly regarding Iraqi missiles and nonconventional weapons that could possibly be used against Israel. The report accused intelligence agencies of being blinded by a one-dimensional perception of Saddam Hussain." . . . Moore continued, "At the heart of this perception lay the colorful portrait of an embodiment of evil, a man possessed by a compulsion to develop weapons of mass destruction in order to strike Israel and others, regardless of additional considerations." . . . According to Moore, "The analysis said a 'certain degree of intelligence wariness is justified,' but added, 'the problem lies in getting carried away to extremes, as was clearly the case with Israeli intelligence on Iraq'… . . . "When 'Israeli intelligence became aware that certain items had been transferred by the head of the regime from Iraq to Syria," Moore quoted the report as saying, "'Israeli intelligence immediately portrayed it-including in leaks to the media-as if Iraq was moving banned weapons out of Iraq in order to conceal them.'" . . . Brom criticized Israeli intelligence for failing to include the more probable scenario that Saddam Hussain and his aides were moving cash or family members out of the country in the face of an impending attack. . . . "Sarid told Israel Radio," Enav reported, that "the article proved that Israeli intelligence assessments on Iraq caused Israel considerable damage by compelling it to prepare for 'threats that did not exist.'" . . . One thing is certain. Israel's competing intelligence services soon will begin-if they haven't already-to write scenarios explaining why it will be necessary to bomb Iranian weapons technology, and a whole new virtual weapons industry will materialize. . . . The reason, of course, is to focus international attention on yet another "rogue state," so as not to have to deal with the real problem, making peace with Palestinians. How much longer can this flight from reality be allowed to last?

posted by LoZo 11:32 AM