traveller Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Letter: Intelligence chiefs still using weasel words over Iraq dossier Rod Barton The Independent - United Kingdom; Apr 13, 2005 Sir: As a former Australian intelligence liaison officer, I attended many meetings of the Joint Intelligence Committee in the 1980s. It was an organisation that I admired. I recall debates it had to select just the right words that would accurately reflect the intelligence available to it. Australia does not have an equivalent organisation and I used to think that we were the poorer. Not any more. Last week the annual report of the Intelligence and Security Committee was presented to the British Parliament. In it, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee reviews its performance in relation to Iraq, including the dossier it produced in September 2002. In admitting its mistakes the JIC is still weasel-wording its self-criticism to imply that it missed the mark by only a little. The dossier stated: 'Iraq co uld produce significant quantities of mustard within weeks, significant quantities of Sarin and VX within months, and, in the case of VX may already have done so.' In its review the JIC now states: 'Although a capability to produce some agents probably existed, this judgment has not been substantiated.' What does the JIC mean by 'not substantiated'? The Iraq Survey Group, which spent 18 months hunting for Iraq's missing weapons, reported last year that in fact Iraq had no capability to produce most of these agents after 1991. On missiles, the JIC wrote in its dossier: 'Iraq retains up to 20 al- Hussein ballistic missiles' but now says 'This has not been substantiated.' In fact, the ISG accounted for just about all the missiles. What the JIC is now saying is as absurd as saying that it cannot substantiate the Isle of Man's Scud missile programme. It is word-smithing like this that resulted in the disastrous dossier in the first place. Intell igence assessment agencies are in an extremely powerful position, with access to sensitive material which the average citizen will never see. They therefore have an obligation to use words responsibly and not put their own spin on assessments, including assessments of their own performance. ROD BARTON CONDER RIDGE, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA THE WRITER WAS THE SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE IRAQ SURVEY GROUP So there we have it - the IOM does have a scud-missile programme - its just that the JIC is saying it cannot substantiate it. What is the range Manchester or London? Who presses the firing button? Martin Blackburn at Civil Defence ought to be prepared for full scale retaliation, is he?? How much has the programme cost? How much was the overspend? Is that why the MEA needs the extra capacity for the tracking and launching systems? there are just too many questions that need answering - what does Govt's PR say about it all? ????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Iraq co uld produce significant quantities of mustard withinweeks, I see the middle east is fast getting out of oil and into condiments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 May be the new incinerator is an anti rocket device put in place just in case the MEA can't beef up the heat and we need to resort to another line of defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy One Mate Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 I thought this thread was something to do with Bernie (multiple hats) Moffat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Aw that's cruel to Bernie, he tries. Over here that's not an easy task. None of us are perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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