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"The invasion was inevitably a reality." A British investigation into the confused preparation for the Iraq war
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Iraq weapons inspection committees, September 1991 (GettyImages)
2023-03-13 12:03
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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) revealed, in a series of documentaries for it, new details related to the stage of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which were used to prepare for the war, which is now marking its 20th anniversary, where former Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks, indicating that standing Along with the United States at the time, it was inevitable for a country like Britain.
A BBC report, translated by Shafaq News Agency, pointed out; The new information was contained in documentaries presented under the title "Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years Later", and it is based on interviews with dozens of people directly concerned with the Iraq war file.
"Wow," was the only word a senior British MI6 officer said when a fellow officer told him in late 2001 that the Americans were serious about the war in Iraq.
The report also indicates that officers of the US Central Intelligence Agency "CIA" remember the shock felt by their counterparts in Britain. The report quotes the head of the CIA's Iraq operations group, Louis Roeda, as saying, "I thought they were going to have a heart attack at the table. If they weren't honorable men, they would have slapped me across the table."
The report stated that "spies", not politicians, were the ones who quickly conveyed the message to the government headquarters in "Downing Street". The report quoted the head of MI6 at the time, Richard Dearlove, as saying in a rare interview, "I was probably the first to say to the prime minister: 'Whether you like it or not...it looks as if they (the Americans) are preparing for an invasion.'"
The report described what was going on at the time, saying that MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, was about to become deeply involved in one of the most controversial and important events in the agency's history.
The report stated that for the United States, the issue of weapons of mass destruction was secondary to the more profound attempt to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The report quoted the former head of "MI6" as saying, referring to the determination to depose Saddam, that "we would have invaded Iraq if Saddam Hussein had a rubber band and a paper clip ... he would goug out your eye with it."
And the report continued; that for Britain, when it came to promoting the Iraq war to a skeptical British public, the central focus was on the supposed threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, noting that the British government was said to have fabricated allegations of weapons of mass destruction, while ministers in At that time, they say, they got reassurance from their "spies" that these weapons were already there.
The report quoted former Prime Minister Tony Blair as saying, "It is really important to understand that the intelligence I was getting was what I was relying on, and I believe I had the right to rely on." The report continued, quoting Blair that on the eve of the invasion, he asked for assurances from the Joint Intelligence Committee, and got them, but he refuses to criticize the intelligence services for the mistake.
The report drew; He pointed out that other ministers say they had doubts at the time, explaining that then-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says he "asked on three occasions Richard Dearlove about the source of this intelligence." "I had an uneasy feeling about that," Straw continues. "But Dearlove assured me on every occasion that these agents were reliable."
Straw says, though, that the responsibility ultimately rests with the politicians, because they are the ones who make the final decisions.
When asked if he viewed the Iraq issue as an intelligence failure, Dearlove simply said, "No," noting that he still believed that Iraq had some sort of weapons program and that elements related to those weapons programs may have been moved across the border into Syria. .
However, others disagree with that, and the report quotes the coordinator of security and intelligence in Britain at the time, David Omand, as saying, "It was a great failure." He pointed out that there was a bias within the government experts that prompted them to respond to parts of the information that supported the idea that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and to exclude any idea that he did not possess weapons of mass destruction.
The report quotes one of the officers who worked in Iraq and who did not speak before, saying that "at that time I felt that what we were doing was wrong." In 2002, he noted, "There was no new or credible intelligence or assessment indicating that Iraq had restarted its weapons of mass destruction programs and that they posed an imminent threat," adding that from the government's point of view, the idea of weapons of mass destruction was the only reason they could suspend legitimacy on it.
The report indicated that the intelligence available in the spring of 2002 was incomplete, and that the old "MI6" agents in Iraq had little or no information about weapons of mass destruction, and there was a desperate search for any new intelligence from new sources to support the case. .
The report continued that on September 12, 2002, Dearlove entered Downing Street with news of a new source of importance, and that this person said that Saddam's programs had been resumed, pledging to provide new details soon.
The report added; That although the source was not subject to full scrutiny, and its information was not shared with experts, the details were handed over to the Prime Minister of Britain.
The report said Dearlove denies accusations that he got too close to Downing Street and calls the accusations "ridiculous", but would not comment on details of the case or specific sources.
He pointed out that other intelligence sources say that in the following three months, he did not hand over any evidence, and it appears that he fabricated it.
The report stated that it is possible that some of the new sources were fabricating information in order to obtain funds, or because they wanted Saddam Hussein to be overthrown.
He went on to say that in January 2003, he had a meeting with a defector from Saddam's intelligence service in Jordan where he claimed he was involved in developing mobile laboratories to work on manufacturing biological weapons, out of sight of UN inspectors.
The report indicated that the dissident's allegations were included in the presentation made by then US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations in February 2003, although some within the US government already questioned this information as unreliable.
The report continued that there was another source codenamed "Curveball", on which the United States and Britain relied, who was also fabricating details about the mobile laboratories.
"It was frustrating at the time," the report quotes Dearlove as saying, but accuses the international inspectors of being "incompetent" for failing to find anything.
The report quoted Chief Inspector Hans Blix as saying that until the beginning of 2003, he believed that there were weapons, but he began to suspect their existence after it was found that the information was incorrect, adding that he wanted more time to get answers, but he did not get them.
But that did not stop the war in March 2003. The report quoted Blair as saying, "I tried until the last moment to avoid military action."
The report drew; Until President George Bush, and because he was afraid that his ally Blair would lose a vote in Parliament on the eve of the war, offered him, in a video call, an opportunity to withdraw from the invasion and participate in the military operation later, but Blair refused.
The report concluded by saying that Blair defended his position as a matter of principle, both in terms of the need to deal with Saddam Hussein, and also because of the need to protect Britain's relationship with the United States. According to Blair, "It could have had a big impact on relations... When I was prime minister, there was no doubt under President Clinton or President Bush... The American president picked up the phone to call me first. It was like that. British Prime Minister Today we (Britain) are outside Europe, and will Joe Biden call Rishi Sunak (current British Prime Minister) first? I'm not sure."
The report concluded by saying; No weapons of mass destruction were found after that. He quotes a former MI6 officer as saying, "Everything has collapsed," recalling the internal review that took place with regard to sources after the war, which left deep and lasting consequences for spies and politicians.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Iraq weapons inspection committees, September 1991 (GettyImages)
2023-03-13 12:03
Share
Font
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) revealed, in a series of documentaries for it, new details related to the stage of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which were used to prepare for the war, which is now marking its 20th anniversary, where former Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks, indicating that standing Along with the United States at the time, it was inevitable for a country like Britain.
A BBC report, translated by Shafaq News Agency, pointed out; The new information was contained in documentaries presented under the title "Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years Later", and it is based on interviews with dozens of people directly concerned with the Iraq war file.
"Wow," was the only word a senior British MI6 officer said when a fellow officer told him in late 2001 that the Americans were serious about the war in Iraq.
The report also indicates that officers of the US Central Intelligence Agency "CIA" remember the shock felt by their counterparts in Britain. The report quotes the head of the CIA's Iraq operations group, Louis Roeda, as saying, "I thought they were going to have a heart attack at the table. If they weren't honorable men, they would have slapped me across the table."
The report stated that "spies", not politicians, were the ones who quickly conveyed the message to the government headquarters in "Downing Street". The report quoted the head of MI6 at the time, Richard Dearlove, as saying in a rare interview, "I was probably the first to say to the prime minister: 'Whether you like it or not...it looks as if they (the Americans) are preparing for an invasion.'"
The report described what was going on at the time, saying that MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, was about to become deeply involved in one of the most controversial and important events in the agency's history.
The report stated that for the United States, the issue of weapons of mass destruction was secondary to the more profound attempt to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The report quoted the former head of "MI6" as saying, referring to the determination to depose Saddam, that "we would have invaded Iraq if Saddam Hussein had a rubber band and a paper clip ... he would goug out your eye with it."
And the report continued; that for Britain, when it came to promoting the Iraq war to a skeptical British public, the central focus was on the supposed threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, noting that the British government was said to have fabricated allegations of weapons of mass destruction, while ministers in At that time, they say, they got reassurance from their "spies" that these weapons were already there.
The report quoted former Prime Minister Tony Blair as saying, "It is really important to understand that the intelligence I was getting was what I was relying on, and I believe I had the right to rely on." The report continued, quoting Blair that on the eve of the invasion, he asked for assurances from the Joint Intelligence Committee, and got them, but he refuses to criticize the intelligence services for the mistake.
The report drew; He pointed out that other ministers say they had doubts at the time, explaining that then-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says he "asked on three occasions Richard Dearlove about the source of this intelligence." "I had an uneasy feeling about that," Straw continues. "But Dearlove assured me on every occasion that these agents were reliable."
Straw says, though, that the responsibility ultimately rests with the politicians, because they are the ones who make the final decisions.
When asked if he viewed the Iraq issue as an intelligence failure, Dearlove simply said, "No," noting that he still believed that Iraq had some sort of weapons program and that elements related to those weapons programs may have been moved across the border into Syria. .
However, others disagree with that, and the report quotes the coordinator of security and intelligence in Britain at the time, David Omand, as saying, "It was a great failure." He pointed out that there was a bias within the government experts that prompted them to respond to parts of the information that supported the idea that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and to exclude any idea that he did not possess weapons of mass destruction.
The report quotes one of the officers who worked in Iraq and who did not speak before, saying that "at that time I felt that what we were doing was wrong." In 2002, he noted, "There was no new or credible intelligence or assessment indicating that Iraq had restarted its weapons of mass destruction programs and that they posed an imminent threat," adding that from the government's point of view, the idea of weapons of mass destruction was the only reason they could suspend legitimacy on it.
The report indicated that the intelligence available in the spring of 2002 was incomplete, and that the old "MI6" agents in Iraq had little or no information about weapons of mass destruction, and there was a desperate search for any new intelligence from new sources to support the case. .
The report continued that on September 12, 2002, Dearlove entered Downing Street with news of a new source of importance, and that this person said that Saddam's programs had been resumed, pledging to provide new details soon.
The report added; That although the source was not subject to full scrutiny, and its information was not shared with experts, the details were handed over to the Prime Minister of Britain.
The report said Dearlove denies accusations that he got too close to Downing Street and calls the accusations "ridiculous", but would not comment on details of the case or specific sources.
He pointed out that other intelligence sources say that in the following three months, he did not hand over any evidence, and it appears that he fabricated it.
The report stated that it is possible that some of the new sources were fabricating information in order to obtain funds, or because they wanted Saddam Hussein to be overthrown.
He went on to say that in January 2003, he had a meeting with a defector from Saddam's intelligence service in Jordan where he claimed he was involved in developing mobile laboratories to work on manufacturing biological weapons, out of sight of UN inspectors.
The report indicated that the dissident's allegations were included in the presentation made by then US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations in February 2003, although some within the US government already questioned this information as unreliable.
The report continued that there was another source codenamed "Curveball", on which the United States and Britain relied, who was also fabricating details about the mobile laboratories.
"It was frustrating at the time," the report quotes Dearlove as saying, but accuses the international inspectors of being "incompetent" for failing to find anything.
The report quoted Chief Inspector Hans Blix as saying that until the beginning of 2003, he believed that there were weapons, but he began to suspect their existence after it was found that the information was incorrect, adding that he wanted more time to get answers, but he did not get them.
But that did not stop the war in March 2003. The report quoted Blair as saying, "I tried until the last moment to avoid military action."
The report drew; Until President George Bush, and because he was afraid that his ally Blair would lose a vote in Parliament on the eve of the war, offered him, in a video call, an opportunity to withdraw from the invasion and participate in the military operation later, but Blair refused.
The report concluded by saying that Blair defended his position as a matter of principle, both in terms of the need to deal with Saddam Hussein, and also because of the need to protect Britain's relationship with the United States. According to Blair, "It could have had a big impact on relations... When I was prime minister, there was no doubt under President Clinton or President Bush... The American president picked up the phone to call me first. It was like that. British Prime Minister Today we (Britain) are outside Europe, and will Joe Biden call Rishi Sunak (current British Prime Minister) first? I'm not sure."
The report concluded by saying; No weapons of mass destruction were found after that. He quotes a former MI6 officer as saying, "Everything has collapsed," recalling the internal review that took place with regard to sources after the war, which left deep and lasting consequences for spies and politicians.
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