|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Pentagon Report Criticizes Planning for WMD Search in Postwar Iraq A secret report prepared last month for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. military waited too long to plan for the WMD search in postwar Iraq, causing the U.S. Central Command to conduct the search ineffectively, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Sept. 2). The report, Operation Iraqi Freedom Strategic Lessons Learned, says the military did not plan soon enough to allow the Central Command to effectively search for and eliminate suspected Iraqi WMD stockpiles. In addition, the extent of planning for the search was underestimated and there were not enough U.S. personnel allocated to conduct the search, the report says. The report blames the poor planning for the WMD hunt on the military’s unfamiliarity with that type of mission and an unclear division of responsibility, according to the Times. “As a result, planning occurred on an ad hoc basis and late in the process,” the report says. “Additionally, there were insufficient assets available to accomplish the mission. Existing assets were tasked to perform multiple, competing missions,” it says. According to the report, which is labeled “final draft,” U.S. military commanders should establish permanent units of WMD specialists. In addition, future operational plans should contain sections on dealing with weapons of mass destruction, it says. A U.S. Defense Department spokesman yesterday refused to comment on the report. “We always look closely at everything we do to find ways to improve and do better and Operation Iraqi Freedom is no exception,” the spokesman said. “As to specifics of the lessons learned, it’s still a draft document and classified, so it would be inappropriate to comment on that,” the spokesman said (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, Sept. 3). British Intelligence Inquiry Meanwhile, a British parliamentary inquiry is scheduled to hear from two Defense Ministry intelligence officials tomorrow about their concerns as to how a September 2002 dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was prepared, according to Agence France-Presse. The inquiry is investigating the apparent suicide of David Kelly, a former U.N. weapons inspector who was cited as the source for a BBC report that alleged that British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office exaggerated prewar intelligence to build the case for war (Agence France-Presse, Sept. 3).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
