Howard OKs Inquiry on Iraq Intelligence

Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 Australian soldiers to Iraq, ordered an independent inquiry into prewar intelligence on the advice of a parliamentary panel.

A parliamentary panel said the government was “more measured” than the U.S. or Britain but had not always accurately portrayed the intelligence it received. Though most Australian spy agencies said any illicit weapons in Iraq were “small stocks,” the Office of National Assessments was more ready to use untested intelligence to argue it was “highly likely” Iraq had illegal weapons.