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Howard says he did not use discredited US intelligence
Sydney, July 12: Prime Minister John Howard said today he did not base his decision to send Australian troops to war in Iraq on discredited US intelligence.
Sydney, July 12: Prime Minister John Howard said today he did not base his decision to send Australian troops to war in Iraq on discredited US intelligence.
In a statement issued before leaving on a weeklong tour of Asia, Howard said he had relied on the judgment of the British Joint Intelligence Committee, which stood by claims that Saddam Hussein's regime tried to buy uranium from Africa.
Howard was speaking after CIA director William Tenet accepted responsibility for failing to remove a similar claim - later found to be based on forged documents - from US President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech in January. Howard said today his own reference to the African uranium issue, made to the Australian Parliament on February 4, quoted a judgment of the British Joint Intelligence Committee.
"The relevant British intelligence agencies continue to stand by that judgment," Howard said in a statement. "They rely on intelligence, which Australian agencies have not seen, separate from the documents declared by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have been forgeries." Howard has been under intense pressure this week to explain when he knew the US claims were wrong. Two Australian intelligence agencies and officials at the foreign ministry have acknowledged they knew of the inaccuracy but did not tell Howard. Bureau Report
Howard was speaking after CIA director William Tenet accepted responsibility for failing to remove a similar claim - later found to be based on forged documents - from US President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech in January. Howard said today his own reference to the African uranium issue, made to the Australian Parliament on February 4, quoted a judgment of the British Joint Intelligence Committee.
"The relevant British intelligence agencies continue to stand by that judgment," Howard said in a statement. "They rely on intelligence, which Australian agencies have not seen, separate from the documents declared by the International Atomic Energy Agency to have been forgeries." Howard has been under intense pressure this week to explain when he knew the US claims were wrong. Two Australian intelligence agencies and officials at the foreign ministry have acknowledged they knew of the inaccuracy but did not tell Howard. Bureau Report