US Debating Release of Intelligence on Iraqi Weapons

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 31, 2003

US Debating Release of Intelligence on Iraqi Weapons

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

President George W. Bush's top national security aides are debating whether to declassify satellite photographs of suspected Iraqi weapons sites and truck convoys to prove that Baghdad is defying United Nations weapons inspections.

The New York Times said Thursday that the classified intelligence also included telephone intercepts and interviews with defectors and detainees.

The rush to declassify comes as US officials search for a way for US Secretary of State Colin Powell to make a credible argumentat the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5 without compromising the sources of the intelligence.

They need to prove not only that Iraq is blocking the inspections but also that it has active links to Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

According to the New York Times, officials from the National Security Council, the Pentagon, the State Department and intelligence agencies spent the whole day on Wednesday to sift through information that might be declassified in coming days.

The information ranges from satellite photographs suggesting that Iraq is trying to "sanitize" sites before inspectors arrive, to reports that "scientists" interviewed by the UN inspectors wereactually Iraqi intelligence agents.

The New York Times said such evidence, as those built on telephone intercepts of discussions among Iraqi officials and the accounts of defectors and detainees, is never entirely reliable and adds another layer of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, the information still may constitute the most powerful part of Powell's presentation to the Security Council next week, the newspaper said.

Questions?Comments? Click here

A 'Gray Report': News Analysis

Japan Urges Iraq to Prove Nonexistence of Weapons Program

Beijing to Cancel 'Hotels for Hosting Foreign Visitors' ( 11 Messages)

Crazy Pursuit for Graduate Education, an Ailing Personnel System ( 2 Messages)

Chinese Experts Demand Return of Cultural Relics ( 30 Messages)

Chinese Bid Farewell to Outworn Doctrine of Egalitarianism ( 22 Messages)

Full Text of UN Security Council Resolution 1441 on Iraq ( 3 Messages)