Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

The new Iraq could benefit from the talents of some of these technocrats. The new Iraq shouldseek recompense from some others who profited from the promotion of the worst deeds of theRegime. Readers of the procurement and finance section of the report will gain some appreciationof how rewards were dispensed.Many Iraqis over many years tried hard to explain Iraq and these programs to me. This was noteasy for them and carried substantial risk. I am grateful to them beyond words.The intelligence services of three nations supported ISG, a long and demanding task. In theUnited Kingdom, mention must be made of SIS and the Defense Intelligence Service (especiallythe Rockingham group) for their long support. In the United States, both the Defense IntelligenceAgency and Central Intelligence Agency sustained the process at substantial cost. Australia providedsome of the best intelligence analysts anywhere. While these institutions expressed interestin the finding and certainly were curious where their pre-war assessments went wrong, they didnot try to steer in any way the judgments included here.In the end, this is not an Intelligence Community product. Rather, it is my independent judgmentas the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraqi WMD. I have had the assistanceof many people, but I chose the directions and methodologies, which are not typical of theintelligence community. Yet, in future decisions, I chose the frame of reference outlined. Wherethere were decisions to be made on interpretation or judgment, they are mine.This will not be the last word on the Iraqi experience with WMD. Many may argue with theinterpretation given here. To further that public debate, and in the interest of the historian towhom this subject is likely to be of considerable interest, I have been firmly committed tomaking this report unclassified. I have also opted on the side of inclusion of material – even ifsensitive for one reason or another – rather than exclusion. The data can be interpreted by others,now and in the future, to form their own judgments.Lastly, I offer my thanks to former DCI George Tenet who offered me the opportunity to pursuethis endeavor. I was given neither guidance nor constraints, and tasked only to find the truth. Ihave tried to do that.Charles DuelferSpecial Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence2