Re: Re[2]: French ruling party having a riot on the Internet

[Paul Schmehl <pauls () utdallas edu>]

--On Wednesday, November 09, 2005 08:45:29 +1300 Nick FitzGerald 
<nick () virus-l demon co uk> wrote:
> With the benefit of hindsight, it is abundantly clear that either
> _some_ members of some intelligence agencies grossly over-stated the
> "evidence" they had for stating the position that Iraq had an ongoing
> WMD program, or that they never actually said/believed that Iraq had an
> ongoing WMD program but highly selectively chosen snippets of
> "evidence" lifted from sources from those agencies were stated as such
> evidence by other agencies (mostly the US and UK agencies).
Perhaps it would help if you understood how intelligence works.  Analysts 
shift through data and make observations.  Those observations are combined 
with other observations, from other analysts, and all the data is 
synthesized and filters up to the decision makers.  The decision makers 
(within the intel aqency) decide what their best estimateis of the meaning 
of all the analysis and they report *that* to the country's leadership.

ALL the intelligence agencies that I am aware of, including Jordan, 
Russian, France, Germany, England, the US, Israel and Egypt ALL agreed that 
Saddam had WMD.  Were they correct?  No!  But that doesn't change the fact 
that prior to the war every single one of them came to the same conclusion 
based upon the evidence they had possession of.

I made no statements about the propriety or legality of the war or 
regarding *any* other political considerations.  I made a simple statement 
of fact, which I challenge anyone who wants to to refute with the available 
evidence.
> It is a sad reflection on your country, Paul, that its "intelligence"
> agencies can now be so easily and apparently willingly bent to produce
> palpable rubbish to support the political ends of the current regime,
> rather than actively ensuring that the real situation is accurately and
> reliably porttrayed to the administration _and the people_.  If I were
> a US citizen I'd be grossly offended at the lack of accountability for
> the rampant misuse of my tax dollars on what is laughingly called the
> country's "intelligence agencies".
Well, that's incorrect as well.  To date there have been four separate 
commissions that have looked in to the pre-war intelligence and its 
handling and *all* four have concluded that there was no pressure put upon 
the agencies by the administration and the intelligence was not "twisted" 
to fit a preconceived outcome.

These are facts.  All else is opinion.

I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with the administration or being 
opposed to the war, but let's at least work from the basis of facts, just 
as we do in our chosen profession.

Fair enough?

Paul Schmehl (pauls () utdallas edu)
Adjunct Information Security Officer
University of Texas at Dallas
AVIEN Founding Member
http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/
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