Australia on Tuesday denied it was continuing to use intelligence about Iraq obtaining aluminium tubes for a nuclear weapons program as justification for war months after the information had been discredited.
In the run-up to the war, Australia and the U.S. cited the seizure of 60,000 Iraq-bound aluminium tubes in Jordan in May 2001 as evidence Saddam Hussein was gathering equipment for a nuclear program.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Canberra toned down its claims the tubes were part of a centrifuge to manufacture enriched uranium in early 2003, soon after receiving a U.S. State Department report dated October 2002 raising doubts about the theory.
"In relation to the aluminium tubes there was some debate about that and that is why we were reasonably circumspect in how we articulated the information about the tubes," he told ABC radio.
Meanwhile, former U.S. State Department Greg Thielman told ABC television in a program aired Monday that Australia and other U.S. allies knew by September 2002 that it was doubtful the tubes were part of a nuclear program.
"The Australians knew about the dissenting positions of the (U.S.) Intelligence Bureau, the State Department and the Department of Energy," Thielman said.
"There was no change, no apparent change in the position of the CIA. They were unfazed by all the contrary evidence, which surprised me greatly." (Albawaba.com)
