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Weapons inspector: Israel knew Iraq had no WMDs
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| DaveSaenz |
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Weapons inspector: Israel knew Iraq had no WMDs
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told ynet Sunday that the Israeli intelligence community was well aware that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
In reaction, MK Ehud Yatom (Likud) – a member of the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday evening that Israel had always maintained and believed that Iraq did, in fact, retain weapons of mass destruction.
Earlier, MK Roman Bronfman (Meretz) said that if Ritter was right, it meant that the government had purposely misled the Israeli public. "This just shows what price Sharon's government is prepared to pay in order to seed panic and evade undertaking any political action," he said.
Ritter, a former US Marine, was a weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998 and a vocal critic of the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.
Last July, Ritter released a new book, accusing US President George W. Bush of illegally attacking Iraq and calling for 'regime change' in the US in the next election. Ritter criticized key figures caught up in the US-led war, saying Bush lied to the American people and Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lacked courage; and former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was 'a moral and intellectual coward.'
On emonth earlier, Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) formed a parliamentary sub-committee to investigate Israel's preparations and the intelligence community's activities in preparation for the Iraq war.
By December 2003, the sub-committee had not yet submitted a report, and committee member MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) demanded a new, more independent sub-committee be formed.
By then, conflicting reports published by a respected Tel Aviv think tank in December indicated deep disagreement over the failure by Israeli intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein's threat to strike the Jewish state.
One report, penned by veteran IDF intelligence officer Col. (ret.) Ephraim Kam, the deputy head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, claimed Israeli intelligence was correct in assuming Iraq had the capability and intention of striking Israel during the recent US invasion, if only to play it safe following the previous conflict, in which Israel had been hit by 39 conventional warheads fired by Iraqi Scud missiles.
The other report, by Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Brom claimed Israeli intelligence not only was a 'full partner' in the failure to correctly assess Saddam's capabilities and intentions, but had participated in an 'exaggerated assessment' with the Americans and British.
While not overtly political, this was mainly due to 'excessive intelligence anxiety' to adopt the worst-case scenario in order to be 'heroes' if validated, and forgiven if their bleak prophecies did not materialize. Brom warned that the good reputation enjoyed by Israeli intelligence could be jeopardized by the failure and hinted there may have been subtle political influence on the intelligence assessment.
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveSaenz
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Wow!! Ritter said it, than it must be true!
Down with Sharon.. Down.. with misleading government. In with hippifying the world! In with selling your soul for a book deal!
Come on Mr. Scott Ritter (if I can call him that), has even less credibility than Mr. Moore.
Think of it for one second -- Lets assume that Israeli intelligence KNEW that Saddam had no WMD. Would you still not order percuations to your civilians - including patriots and gas masks?
If all the other intelligence services of the world supsected Saddam to have WMD, and you know what he did in the last war - where Israel wasn't even involved, would you, as an Israeli leader than, just do nothing for your public.
Tell me, what do you think would have a larger political reaction - you calling in precautions to a public fearful of Iraq, or you saying "ahh don't worry you have nothing to worry about.. he won't lift a finger". A fine leader you would make... |
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| MisterOpus1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yoepus
Wow!! Ritter said it, than it must be true!
Down with Sharon.. Down.. with misleading government. In with hippifying the world! In with selling your soul for a book deal!
Come on Mr. Scott Ritter (if I can call him that), has even less credibility than Mr. Moore.
Think of it for one second -- Lets assume that Israeli intelligence KNEW that Saddam had no WMD. Would you still not order percuations to your civilians - including patriots and gas masks?
If all the other intelligence services of the world supsected Saddam to have WMD, and you know what he did in the last war - where Israel wasn't even involved, would you, as an Israeli leader than, just do nothing for your public.
Tell me, what do you think would have a larger political reaction - you calling in precautions to a public fearful of Iraq, or you saying "ahh don't worry you have nothing to worry about.. he won't lift a finger". A fine leader you would make... |
Seems your argument is a little ad hominem. I've honestly never heard of Scott Ritter until now. So because he has differing views of the motives of Israel and the U.S., you deem him not credible? Do you have more than that on this guy I could read about? |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by MisterOpus1
Seems your argument is a little ad hominem. I've honestly never heard of Scott Ritter until now. So because he has differing views of the motives of Israel and the U.S., you deem him not credible? Do you have more than that on this guy I could read about? |
He was the guy on TV - he was pro-Saddam before, and uttering lies on TV and he wrote a book about it too.. he is basically rejected by everyone but the media.
Go google about it, I'm not a fan. But my argument stands regardless of my attack on him, but the attack is fair - as the character has been known to make things up before. |
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| imokruok |
| quote: | Originally posted by MisterOpus1
Seems your argument is a little ad hominem. I've honestly never heard of Scott Ritter until now. So because he has differing views of the motives of Israel and the U.S., you deem him not credible? |
There are plenty of reasons to discredit Scott Ritter, not withstanding his "differing views." Most people in the 'weapons inspection' club, including former and current members of the teams, deem him to be no longer credible. Some are particularly troubled by the way he so quickly changed his tune on WMDs in Iraq after receiving a substantial sum of money from the Saddam government to pay for a documentary.
Additionally, integrity in private life does have an influence on your public role when it comes to intelligence. (Blackmail is a real threat - that's why members of the CIA have complete marriage and debt analyses done on them before they are hired.) Scott Ritter has a thing for under-age girls, and before this became publicly known, it was widely assumed that Iraqi intelligence had something on him that they were using against him. |
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| MisterOpus1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by imokruok
There are plenty of reasons to discredit Scott Ritter, not withstanding his "differing views." Most people in the 'weapons inspection' club, including former and current members of the teams, deem him to be no longer credible. Some are particularly troubled by the way he so quickly changed his tune on WMDs in Iraq after receiving a substantial sum of money from the Saddam government to pay for a documentary.
Additionally, integrity in private life does have an influence on your public role when it comes to intelligence. (Blackmail is a real threat - that's why members of the CIA have complete marriage and debt analyses done on them before they are hired.) Scott Ritter has a thing for under-age girls, and before this became publicly known, it was widely assumed that Iraqi intelligence had something on him that they were using against him. |
Well that's pretty juicy, if true. Any good links on the guy? I'm being laaaaazy. |
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| rizen |
| Heh, I remember when everyone including Bill O`rielly ted on Ritter about the whole WMD thing, and now it turns out he was right all along. :) |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by rizen
Heh, I remember when everyone including Bill O`rielly ted on Ritter about the whole WMD thing, and now it turns out he was right all along. :) |
Ya I was thinking that too - but he didn't do it because he knew, thats the difference, he did it because he was simply a cheerleader for the opposite team. In reality, it turns out that more and more that no one knew about the incident.
Even Iraqi military commanders thought they had WMD - they thought battalions to their right and to their left had WMD... |
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| rizen |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yoepus
Ya I was thinking that too - but he didn't do it because he knew, thats the difference, he did it because he was simply a cheerleader for the opposite team. In reality, it turns out that more and more that no one knew about the incident.
Even Iraqi military commanders thought they had WMD - they thought battalions to their right and to their left had WMD... |
He was right. OMG I TOO KNEW THERE WAS NO WMDS IN IRAQ! I AM CHEERLEADER FOR SADDAM :rolleyes: |
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| DaveSZ |
Just forget Ritter then...
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2...25B262&set_id=1
| quote: |
'Israel knew Iraq had no nuclear weapons'
February 04 2004 at 02:00AM
By Laurie Copans
Jerusalem - A government critic said on Tuesday that Israel was aware before the war against Iraq that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, but Israel did not inform the United States.
Israel put itself on war footing before the US invasion last year, passing out gas mask kits to its citizens and then ordering them to open the kits, a step that eventually will cost millions, since components would have to be replaced.
But lawmaker Yossi Sarid, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said on Tuesday that Israeli intelligence knew beforehand that Iraq had no weapons stockpiles and misled US President George Bush.
'Israel didn't want to spoil President Bush's scenario'
In contrast, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party said Israel had shared its doubts with the Americans.
During the first Gulf war in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, all with conventional warheads. Last year Israel appointed a stern general, Amos Gilead, as its liaison with the population. Gilead filled the airwaves with dire warnings of possible chemical or biological attacks from Iraq.
Sarid, who represents the dovish opposition Meretz Party, said it was just a costly show - Israeli intelligence knew the threat was "very, very, very limited."
"It was known in Israel that the story that weapons of mass destruction could be activated in 45 minutes was an old wives' tale," said Sarid, regarding a claim leading up to the war.
"Israel didn't want to spoil President Bush's scenario, and it should have," Sarid said.
Israeli critics say the government of Sharon maintained the state of alert for its own political reasons, to help galvanise public opinion in favour of harsh steps against the Palestinians.
The United States and Britain have launched inquiries into intelligence reports about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, used by leaders of both nations as part of their justification for the invasion. So far such weapons have not been found.
Likud lawmaker Ehud Yatom said Israel told the Americans that it was not sure that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
"Israel said apparently there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but we haven't seen anything with our own eyes," Yatom said. "But the great United States didn't have to rely on Israel." Yatom had a career in Israeli security before entering the parliament last year.
Another view came from Scott Ritter, who led United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq for seven years before resigning in 1998. He told an Israeli newspaper this week that Israel knew for years that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
"The Israeli intelligence reached this conclusion many years ago," Ritter told the Ynet Internet site, affiliated with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. "Despite this, the security establishment instructed citizens to open their gas masks, a move that cost Israel billions."
Ritter, an ex-Marine officer, has been a vocal critic of Bush's Iraq policies.
When Ritter met with Israeli intelligence officials in 1998, they told him that Iraq had been reduced to the number six threat down from number one four years before, he said.
"In the end, if the Israeli intelligence knew that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, so the CIA knew it and thus British intelligence too," Ritter told Ynet. - Sapa-AP
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| quote: | Originally posted by rizen
He was right. OMG I TOO KNEW THERE WAS NO WMDS IN IRAQ! I AM CHEERLEADER FOR SADDAM :rolleyes: |
lol |
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| George Smiley |
Does anyone here actually think Iraq had any WMDs (that could threaten either the US, the UK or Australia? Forget Israel, its not their soldiers dying out there)
And more to the point, does anyone here actually think our intelligence agencies believed Iraq had WMDs?
I dont. I Believe everyone knew Iraq had no WMDs. It is our governments who have lied to us to achieve their Middle East objectives. And now we all know the truth, they are trying to blame the intelligence agencies. I dont buy it for one minute. |
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