Gulflink

In war, some facts less factual

"But past cases of bad intelligence or outright disinformation used to justify war are

making experts wary. The questions they are raising, some based on examples from the 1991

Persian Gulf War, highlight the importance of accurate information when a democracy considers

military action.

"My concern in these situations, always, is that the intelligence that you get is driven by

the policy, rather than the policy being driven by the intelligence," says former US Rep. Lee

Hamilton (D) of Indiana, a 34-year veteran lawmaker until 1999, who served on numerous foreign

affairs and intelligence committees, and is now director of the Woodrow Wilson International

Center for Scholars in Washington. The Bush team "understands it has not yet carried the burden

of persuasion (about an imminent Iraqi threat), so they will look for any kind of evidence to

support their premise," Mr. Hamilton says. "I think we have to be skeptical about it."

Arming Iraq: A Chronology of U.S. Involvement

March 2003

By John King