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Australian intelligence services under attack again
Canberra, Apr 21: The Australian government today faced renewed pressure to set up a judicial inquiry into its spy network after another military expert questioned perceived failures in crises such as East Timor and Iraq.
Canberra, Apr 21: The Australian government today faced renewed pressure to set up a judicial inquiry into its spy network after another military expert questioned perceived failures in crises such as East Timor and Iraq.
Recently retired specialist in military strategy, Major-General Mike Smith, also said Canberra's decision to join the United States and Britain in the invasion of Iraq had
left Australia dangerously exposed to terrorism.
"We haven't got it right on a number of occasions, whether that means that it's an intelligence failure or whether we wouldn't have got it right anyway," Smith told.
Although they had invested heavily in technology, the intelligence services had probably underestimated the value of human intelligence, he said.
"Unless you're on the ground in these places or you're getting absolutely good information and have a great situational awareness of what's going on, then you're bound to get it wrong," Smith added.
His broadside came as Prime Minister John Howard continued to defy demands for a royal commission into allegations of intelligence failures over the militia rampage in East Timor, the 2002 Bali bombings and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Smith described Australia's decision to back the invasion of Iraq as "a great folly", arguing its uncritical embrace of us foreign policy had left the country dangerously exposed to terrorism. "The biggest danger to Australia is that we've so overtly aligned ourselves to the United States," he told.
Bureau Report
"We haven't got it right on a number of occasions, whether that means that it's an intelligence failure or whether we wouldn't have got it right anyway," Smith told.
Although they had invested heavily in technology, the intelligence services had probably underestimated the value of human intelligence, he said.
"Unless you're on the ground in these places or you're getting absolutely good information and have a great situational awareness of what's going on, then you're bound to get it wrong," Smith added.
His broadside came as Prime Minister John Howard continued to defy demands for a royal commission into allegations of intelligence failures over the militia rampage in East Timor, the 2002 Bali bombings and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Smith described Australia's decision to back the invasion of Iraq as "a great folly", arguing its uncritical embrace of us foreign policy had left the country dangerously exposed to terrorism. "The biggest danger to Australia is that we've so overtly aligned ourselves to the United States," he told.
Bureau Report