Iraq threat was limited, (Aussie) troops (were) told

[rooboy]

Australian troops fighting in Iraq were told in an official briefing days before entering the country that Saddam Hussein did not have the capability to launch weapons of mass destruction against its neighbours.

Roger Hill, Australia's most experienced weapons inspector, yesterday told The Age that Iraq had possessed the remnants of weapons of mass destruction but its ability to use them on the battlefield was "almost zero".

"There is no question Iraq possessed materials, documents and possibly products," Mr Hill said. "But it did not have the ability to conduct attacks on its near or regional neighbours," he said. "I told our troops that. I also told people in the other coalition forces. But I was a lone voice."

In March last year, shortly before the war, Mr Howard told Parliament: "We are determined to join other countries to deprive Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction, its chemical and biological weapons, which even in minute quantities are capable of causing death and destruction on a mammoth scale."

Mr Hill said Australia should have had a closer look at the intelligence information it had received before committing troops to the US-led invasion.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/06/1075854063537.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Chickens are coming home to roost in several countries

WOW