Israel: Iraq Intel Was Faulty

[Iceburg]

<snip>
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,115428,00.html

JERUSALEM — Israeli intelligence had few facts about Saddam Hussein's (search) chemical and biological weapons ahead of last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, leading officials to take unnecessary steps to protect the public, participants in a parliamentary inquiry of the intelligence services said Sunday.
A report on the investigation was to be released later Sunday.

The report does not suggest Israel (search) deliberately misled U.S. intelligence, but says Israel's coordination with foreign intelligence agencies was faulty, said members of the panel of inquiry, speaking on condition of anonymity.

</snip>


Now consider the source: Fauxnews ... are they trying to help out the "Flying Monkeys" in Washington? I say its time to pull down the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. And while we are are at it, why not throw a bucket of water on Condi?

[RainDog]

1. LOL

This is rich.

Israel has had a Likud version of the Office of Special Projects, just like the neocons had here, to "gather evidence" before the invasion.

Lt. Col Karen Kwiatkowski noted that Israeli govt people had incredible access to the neocons who took over the Pentagon and fabricated the lies they needed to convince Americans to invade Iraq.

So, what...is the govt suddenly learning what was reported months ago?!?!?

Maybe this is another step to get rid of Sharon.

Israel would be better off, imho, without Sharon or any of the Likud party in control.

[Leilani]

2. Israel, the country with the best intel in the world

didn't have the info?

Give me a break; I resent these people for insulting my intelligence.

Iraq is in Israel's neighborhood, & of course they knew what was going on.

They wanted this war as much as the Bush cabal.

[Iceburg]

3. Chicago Tribune:Intelligence units overstated Iraq's arms

<snip>
JERUSALEM -- Israeli intelligence estimates exaggerated Iraq's military capabilities and influenced assessments in the U.S. and other countries but were not deliberately distorted to support the case for war, an Israeli parliamentary inquiry said in a report issued on Sunday.

The 80-page report, a rare public review of the performance of the Israeli intelligence agencies, was published as the United States and Britain are conducting their own investigations into intelligence failures that preceded the war in Iraq.

more ...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0403290355mar29,1,7164076.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

[RainDog]

5. The attack on Iraq was not in our best interests

it detracted from the war on terrorism, took troops away from Afghanistan, which, as Foreign Policy notes, is not a settled issue, and which notes that terrorist groups have been able to continue (and Clarke says morph..beyond the need for Osama),

in addition, the invasion of a muslim nation isn't exactly an advertisement for American respect for the sovereignty of other nations,

Yes, a pie-in-the-sky scenario of bringing democracy to Iraq sounds great, but the truth is that Chalabi was the hand-picked neocon version of the Shah for Iraq (and of course, Saddam was the chosen figurehead before Chalabi, but he became an unruly "client.")

However, the likely scenario which realists predicted before the invasion was a deterioration into civil war and the break up of Iraq into three separate states based on Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish sections...

Which suited Israel's Likud, because they thought that would weaken the capacity of what would be a former Iraq from threatening them.

However, maybe I'm just naive, but the idea of another muslim theocracy which could make alliances with others who want muslim theocracies, for instance in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, would seem to have the outcome of making the entire world a more dangerous place.

How many years has it taken for Iran to be able to move beyond their founding Ayatollah and his calls for a fatwa on a writer, for instance, who insulted their beliefs, or, again, the calls for jihad and support for terrorist organizations which operate in Iran?

Secular govts seem to be able to achieve negotiations easier than theocratic ones...look at Egypt and Jordan, for instance.

...and look at our own govt, with the inflammatory rhetoric of a crusade playing into the propaganda of bin Laden, vs a tact which treats Al Qaeda as an international criminal organization, like the mafia, acting in nations across the world.

which view is more likely to create a way to deal with terrorism across nations via cooperation and intelligence sharing?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. The correct word for Israeli intelligence on Iraqi WMDs does start...

...with an "f", but "faulty" is not the word that comes to my mind. IMHO, "fabricated" is a MUCH better word to use in this case.

[SOS]

6. From today's NYT on "intel failure"

"...it was clear the findings were directed primarily at the Mossad, the external intelligence service, and the military's intelligence wing. Israel was an enthusiastic supporter of the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, regarded as one of the country's most serious threats"...
"Israel gave information to foreign intelligence services, which they used for their own purposes," Mr. Steinitz added.

"A leftist lawmaker, Yossi Sarid, a critic of Mr. Sharon's government, has alleged that Israel knew Iraq had no unconventional weapons but did not tell the United States because Israel wanted the war to proceed.
Mr. Steinitz rejected that claim, saying that any mistakes "were made in good faith."

"Just as British and U.S. intelligence failed, Israeli intelligence failed," Mr. Ramon said. "Unfortunately, I think we exaggerated the threat."

Edit to add link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/international/middleeast/29ISRA.html

[The Stranger]

7. This statement says it all.

. . . any mistakes "were made in good faith."