U.S. Said To Misread Hussein On Arms

[cal04]

Report Cites Suspicions of Ruse
By Walter Pincus

U.S. intelligence agencies misinterpreted Saddam Hussein's directions that his military do away with weapons of mass destruction or their elements, believing incorrectly the orders were a ruse meant to hide evidence of such weapons from United Nations inspectors, according to an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that includes excerpts of a recently declassified report by the Pentagon's Joint Forces Command. In 2002, when U.S. intelligence intercepted an internal message between two Iraqi commanders talking about removing the words "nerve agents" from "wireless instructions," the analysts "had no way of knowing that this time the information reflected the regime's attempt to ensure it was in compliance with U.N. resolutions," according to the Pentagon report.

The same situation existed when U.S. intelligence learned of instructions to the Iraqi military to search "for any chemical agents" in order to "make sure the area is free of chemical containers, and write a report on it," the article says. The United States "viewed this information through the prism of a decade of prior deceit" and did not believe it. The Foreign Affairs article was written by three defense analysts who helped draft the Pentagon report: Kevin Woods, an analyst in Washington; James Lacey, a military analyst for the U.S. Joint Forces Command; and Williamson Murray, a history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The intelligence analyses became part of then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's Feb. 5, 2003, briefing of the U.N. Security Council, in which the United States attempted to justify military action against Iraq based on Hussein's failure to disclose his weapons of mass destruction. Piece by piece, the intelligence presented that day by Powell has been shown to have been wrong, and the newly released Joint Forces Command report of lessons learned from the Iraq war, completed in late 2003, adds to that embarrassing record.

Ali Hassan al-Majeed, now on trial with Hussein in Baghdad for his use of chemical bombs against Kurds, told U.S. interrogators that at some point before the U.S.-led invasion Hussein told his Revolutionary Command Council that Iraq did not have prohibited weapons of mass destruction, but Hussein refused to tell the world that. He "flatly rejected a suggestion that the regime remove all doubts to the contrary, going on to explain that such a declaration might encourage the Israelis to attack," according to the report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/13/AR2006031301672_pf.html

[acmavm]

1. 'Misread'? No, f**ked up. Out of downright blatant arrogant stupidity.

.

[keta11]

2. We didnt find any WMDs but we did find

the IEDs so the war is justified. Dont worry, be happy.