Iraqi war

Iraq lessons learned: intelligence

John Howard didn’t have too much support from Australian intelligence in deciding to go to war against Iraq.

The Prime Minister got just enough cover from the Office of National Assessments to meet political needs. Beyond politics, though—as a basis for war—the Oz intelligence supporting war was thin stuff.

So thin, in fact, it was wrong. Iraq didn’t pose a threat because it didn’t have the Weapons of Mass Destruction that was the casus belli used by the US, Britain and Australia.

Intelligence is the starting point for this lessons learned exercise, as discussed in the previous column.