We all know what happened in Iraq with the whole weapons of mass destruction ( WMD ) misinformation thing and what the Western-led invasion of Iraq led to. Several years after US propaganda based on faulty intelligence led to the invasion of the country and in many ways a worsening of the security situation in the country, the world came to know that Iraq did not have WMDs. US military casualties in the thousands and numerous US injuries and enormous number of Iraqi deaths resulted from hasty action inspired by extremist neocon ideology.
Once again, we are confronted with a similar situation with the US administration issuing a warning to Syria not to use chemical weapons against internal opponents ( the Bashar Al-Assad government has stated that it does not intend to use chemical weapons against internal opponents ). What kind of intelligence underlies US statements on this issue ? How credible is the intelligence that the US administration is using, given the fact that US military personnel and NATO military personnel may have to risk their lives if the US alone or if NATO initiates military action against the Bashar Al-Assad regime ? US political discourse must hold its political establishment to higher standards of intelligence and due diligence than were followed in the case of Iraq. And the international community must be that much more alert against possible mistakes on this issue based on faulty intelligence.
by C. Jayant Praharaj ( send comments to [email protected] )
Once again, we are confronted with a similar situation with the US administration issuing a warning to Syria not to use chemical weapons against internal opponents ( the Bashar Al-Assad government has stated that it does not intend to use chemical weapons against internal opponents ). What kind of intelligence underlies US statements on this issue ? How credible is the intelligence that the US administration is using, given the fact that US military personnel and NATO military personnel may have to risk their lives if the US alone or if NATO initiates military action against the Bashar Al-Assad regime ? US political discourse must hold its political establishment to higher standards of intelligence and due diligence than were followed in the case of Iraq. And the international community must be that much more alert against possible mistakes on this issue based on faulty intelligence.
by C. Jayant Praharaj ( send comments to [email protected] )