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Intelligence 'story' reeks of dishonesty: Wilkie
July 11 2003
Claims yesterday that a key intelligence agency withheld from the government American doubts about Iraq's nuclear aspirations reeked of dishonesty, former intelligence officer Andrew Wilkie said today. The Office of National Assessments (ONA) yesterday revealed it knew American agencies in January had doubts over claims Iraq had sought to buy uranium from Africa but did not pass the information on to Prime Minister John Howard. Mr Wilkie, who resigned from ONA earlier this year in protest at the government's pro-war stance, today said the story appeared to be either a monumental blunder or dishonest. "There is something wrong with this whole story, it reeks of dishonesty, it reeks of children overboard, the fact that the prime minister is claiming he was unaware," he said. "I just find that story unbelievable. "This was either a terrible act of dishonesty or it was a monumental blunder, a blunder so serious that it calls into question our whole intelligence relationship with the US and Australia's intelligence processes." Mr Wilkie said he had enormous respect for ONA officers, including the agency's director-general Kim Jones, and did not believe they would make such a significant mistake. "I think some sort of failure within government is a much more likely scenario rather than a failure within ONA," he said. AAP 
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Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald. |
