(Australian) Government 'warned' on intelligence

[rooboy]

Intelligence agencies told the Federal Government in the weeks before the Iraq war that some of the Bush Administration's claims justifying an invasion were exaggerated, according to one of Australia's most senior intelligence officials.

Assessments provided to Prime Minister John Howard stated that US Secretary of State Colin Powell's prewar address to the United Nations "went beyond the available evidence" in at least two areas, the official said.

It is believed these included claims of mobile biological weapons laboratories and alleged links between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

The official - who spoke on condition of anonymity - said the Government was told before the war that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction did not pose an immediate threat. Iraq's chemical and biological warfare capabilities were largely latent, they said.

In a private briefing attended by The Age, the official said the threat posed by Iraq last year did not justify its invasion.

The briefing painted a picture of intelligence on Iraq at odds with some of Mr Howard's comments before and after the war.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/13/1076548224395.html