*Ø* US stance on Iraq contrasts with intelligence


"The U.S. National Intelligence Council's assessment of Iraq's future is less optimistic than the scenario drawn by the Bush administration. In a recent National Intelligence Estimate, the agency describes three possible outcomes. The worst is a spiral into civil war. The best is a shaky economic, political and security environment. President Bush's public comments on Iraq are more optimistic than even the best scenario described in the NIE."
Source: NPR (has audio)

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British Army colonel's Iraq turnaround

"NICK MCKENZIE: British Army Colonel Tim Collins made worldwide headlines with his address to his battalion before they entered Iraq.

"A copy of the speech reportedly hung from a wall in the US president's office.

"'We are entering Iraq to free a people ...' he told his troops ... 'and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own.'

"But if Colonel Collins once symbolised the spirit of the invasion, his interview with the BBC now encapsulates just how far away the coalition remains from reaching its aims.

"TIM COLLINS: ... It's fair to say that the United States and its ally the UK are living the consequences of having removed the Ba-ath's regime without any thought about what would replace it ... Iraqis are dying in their tens and hundreds on a weekly basis and that's regrettable, and regrettably also, young service men from the United States, from the UK and from our allies are dying there too."
Source: PM