- WASHINGTON - It's no secret
that much of the news reported in Israel's Hebrew-language media never
reaches the mainstream American press, for the simple reason that items
unfavorable to Israel generally are not translated. And, because very few
Israelis break this self-imposed censorship, items from the Hebrew press
that do appear may be much more newsworthy than their anemic English translations
indicate.
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- It was a bit stunning, therefore, to read an article
in Strategic Assessment, the quarterly bulletin issued by the Jaffee Center
for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. The report, titled "The
War in Iraq: An Intelligence Failure?" was written by Shlomo Brom,
a brigadier general in the Israeli Army reserves, and said what no one
seems to have dared publish since President George W. Bush decided to wage
war on Iraq. Shockingly, it told the full truth about the American and
British intelligence "sources" making the case for war.
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- In fact, according to Brom, these sources were utterly
compromised by Israeli intelligence, which made the case for starting the
war and kept it going as long as necessary. The retired general described
Israel as a "full partner" in US and British intelligence failures
that exaggerated Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs
in the lead up to the US-led invasion.
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- Israeli intelligence sources and political leaders provided
"an exaggerated assessment of Iraqi capabilities," raising "the
possibility that the intelligence had been manipulated," wrote Brom,
former deputy chief of planning for the Israeli Army.
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- Brom said his remarks were directed at Israel's Military
Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and the Mossad intelligence agency.
Similar allegations have surfaced from US and British sources following
months of futile efforts to uncover evidence of Iraq's pre-war weapons
programs.
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- In a Dec. 5 article, Washington Post correspondent Molly
Moore quoted from the report: "'In the questioning of the picture
painted by coalition intelligence, the third party in this intelligence
failure, Israel, has remained in the shadows...A critical question to be
answered is whether governmental bodies falsely manipulated the intelligence
information in order to gain support for their decision to go to war in
Iraq, while the real reasons for this decision were obfuscated or concealed.'"
- Articles by Laura King of the Los Angeles Times, Peter
Enav of Salon.com.News, and the Associated Press also appeared on the report.
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- Brig. Gen. Brom's criticism of the Israeli intelligence
community - which many Americans believe to be one of, if not the world's
best - was unusual. Like many retired intelligence officers, Brom, who
retired after a 25-year career, most likely continued to be privy to a
great deal of sensitive government information.
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- According to Brom, Israeli intelligence "badly overestimated
the Iraqi threat to Israel and reinforced the American and British belief
that the weapons existed."
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- Attributing the poor intelligence to a lack of professionalism
and poor supervision, Brom wrote, "Even if Iraq had any Scud missiles
left, I can't understand how Israeli intelligence officers came to believe
they threatened Israel, particularly when they hadn't been used in more
than 10 years. It's a clear example of how an inability to think clearly
is undermining the Israeli intelligence community."
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- "Brom also cited bitter memories of the 1973 Middle
East war," Enav reported, "when Israeli intelligence failed to
anticipate an attack by Egypt and Syria, and the country suffered thousands
of casualties."
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- As Brom observed in his report, "Israeli intelligence
agencies have tended to overstate the threat the country faces ever since
1973."
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- Wrote The Post's Moore, "The study did not cite
specific exchanges of intelligence. Israeli officials frequently told foreign
journalists before the war that Israel and the United States were sharing
information, particularly regarding Iraqi missiles and non-conventional
weapons that could possibly be used against Israel. The report accused
intelligence agencies of being blinded by a one-dimensional perception
of Saddam Hussein."
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- Moore continued, "At the heart of this perception
lay the colorful portrait of an embodiment of evil, a man possessed by
a compulsion to develop weapons of mass destruction in order to strike
Israel and others, regardless of additional considerations."
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- "When 'Israeli intelligence became aware that certain
items had been transferred by the head of the regime from Iraq to Syria,"
Moore quoted the report as saying, "Israeli intelligence immediately
portrayed it - including in leaks to the media - as if Iraq was moving
banned weapons out of Iraq in order to conceal them.'"
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- Brom criticized Israeli intelligence for failing to include
the more probable scenario that Saddam Hussein and his aides were moving
cash or family members out of the country in the face of an impending attack.
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- "The study noted," Moore wrote, "that
Israeli and US governments have disagreed over the past decade on the 'weight
of various threats in the Middle East.' The report said Israel has generally
claimed that Iran poses a more serious threat than Iraq, because the latter
was 'contained and under control.'"
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- Moore further quoted the Brom report as saying that "Once
the Bush administration decided to take action against Iraq, it was more
difficult for Israel to maintain its position that dealing with Iraq was
not the highest priority, especially when it was obvious that the war would
serve Israel's interests."
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- One thing is certain. Israel's competing intelligence
services soon will begin - if they haven't already - to write scenarios
explaining why it will be necessary to bomb Iranian weapons technology,
and a whole new virtual weapons industry will materialize. The reason,
of course, is to focus international attention on yet another "rogue
state," so as not to have to deal with the real problem, making peace
with Palestinians. How much longer can this flight from reality be allowed
to last?
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- Richard H. Curtiss is the executive editor of the Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs Magazine
- http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20031219015029609
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