Spies' Iraq outlook bleak | News | The Australian
Spies' Iraq outlook bleak | News | The Australian: "October 21, 2006
JOHN Howard has been delivered a bleak intelligence assessment on Iraq which highlights a country gripped by sectarian violence and little improvement in economic conditions since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The considered verdict of the Prime Minister's intelligence advisers is that Iraq's path to democracy is far from assured as the al-Maliki Government struggles to consolidate its authority.
The top-secret analysis provided by intelligence agencies led by the peak assessment agency, the Office of National Assessments, this month shows an increasing risk to coalition forces from sectarian militias and terrorist groups operating inside Iraq.
A key judgment is that Iraq has been clearly used as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups around the globe with the number of jihadis steadily increasing.
The assessment comes as Mr Howard, writing in today's The Weekend Australian, says the nation could still be fighting the global war on terror in 2026."
