|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Analysts Behind Faulty Iraq Intelligence Rewarded
Two U.S. Army analysts believed to have contributed to faulty intelligence on prewar Iraq’s WMD programs received job performance awards for the last three consecutive years, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, May 23). The civilian analysts at the National Ground Intelligence Center — George Norris and Robert Campos — were responsible for the claim that aluminum tubes sought by Saddam Hussein’s regime were intended for use in nuclear centrifuges, according to the Post. That conclusion was a “serious lapse in analytic tradecraft,” according to the presidential commission that investigated U.S. intelligence failures. Analysts at the center “could and should have conducted a more exhaustive examination of the question.” The commission reported that the tubes were probably meant for Iraq’s conventional rocket program (see GSN, April 1). Norris and Campos were among the center personnel who received cash payments in fiscal 2002, 2003 and 2004, the Post reported. The Defense Department confirmed the awards given to Norris and Campos, but added that they were based “on their overall annual performance — not on a single contribution — and supervisors were encouraged to reward individuals on the basis of their annual contributions.” Some current and former officials said the decision to reward the two analysts indicated the Bush administration’s failure to hold people accountable over faulty intelligence. “It matters whether it was carelessness or tailoring [of intelligence], whether it was based on perceived wants of an administration or overt requests. … It is time now to demonstrate the need for the integrity of the process,” said Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, May 28).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
