Fed: Downer dismisses fresh WMD doubts

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-2004
Fed: Downer dismisses fresh WMD doubts

CANBERRA, Feb 18 AAP - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today dismissed fresh claims
that there were doubts within the prime minister's key intelligence organisation about
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Carl Ungerer, who left the Office of National Assessments (ONA) in 2002, said last
night that there were doubts in the agency about claims made by US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to justify war against Iraq.

Dr Ungerer said ONA received almost no raw intelligence from overseas agencies against
which it could judge claims about Iraq.

But Mr Downer said Dr Ungerer, who served as former opposition leader Simon Crean's
national security adviser, had a political barrow to push.

"Carl Ungerer was part of the `well, on the balance of things we'd rather Saddam Hussein
stayed in power' (group)," Mr Downer told reporters.

"I am part of the group that thinks on the balance of things, it's a damned good thing
to get rid of Saddam Hussein and I'm glad that we played a role in doing that."

Mr Downer said the failure to locate stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction following
the war was a red herring, as it was clear Iraq did have WMD capabilities at the time
of the war.

"Obviously, whether they actually had stockpiles at the time of the war we are still
endeavouring to find out, but they certainly had the capability - in defiance of the United
Nations - to manufacture stockpiles very quickly.

"I didn't get any information from our intelligence agencies saying hey, all this talk
about Iraq being dangerous is just complete nonsense."

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KEYWORD: IRAQ WMD DOWNER

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