Iraq Survey Group

Iraq Survey Group
Petr Pavlicek · Attribution · source
Name	Iraq Survey Group
Formation	2003
Dissolution	2005
Headquarters	Baghdad, Iraq
Parent organization	Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense

Iraq Survey Group was a multi-national team established by the United States and United Kingdom to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group was led by David Kay and later by Charles Duelfer, and its findings were widely reported by the New York Times, BBC News, and Al Jazeera. The Iraq Survey Group worked closely with the United Nations Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate Saddam Hussein's regime and its alleged weapons programs, including the development of chemical weapons and biological weapons.

● Introduction

The Iraq Survey Group was formed in June 2003, with the primary objective of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as claimed by the United States and United Kingdom before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group consisted of experts from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Defense, and other intelligence agencies, including the MI6 and Australian Secret Intelligence Service. The Iraq Survey Group worked in collaboration with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Committee of the Red Cross to gather evidence and conduct interviews with Iraqi scientists and officials, such as Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid.

● Background

The formation of the Iraq Survey Group was a response to the failure of the United Nations Special Commission to find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group's creation was also influenced by the Downing Street memo, which revealed that the United States and United Kingdom had discussed the possibility of invading Iraq as early as July 2002, with the support of Tony Blair and George W. Bush. The Iraq Survey Group's mission was to search for evidence of weapons programs and to interview Iraqi officials, including Saddam Hussein and his inner circle, such as Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and Taha Yassin Ramadan.

● Organization and Methodology

The Iraq Survey Group was organized into several teams, each with a specific focus, such as chemical weapons, biological weapons, and nuclear weapons. The group used a variety of methods to gather evidence, including interviews with Iraqi scientists and officials, such as Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, and the analysis of documents and physical evidence, with the help of experts from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The group also worked with the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps to secure sites and to provide logistical support, under the command of General Tommy Franks and General Richard Myers.

● Findings and Reports

The Iraq Survey Group issued several reports on its findings, including the Duelfer Report, which concluded that Saddam Hussein's regime had no active weapons of mass destruction programs at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The report also found that Iraq had destroyed its chemical weapons and biological weapons stockpiles in the 1990s, with the help of the United Nations Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Iraq Survey Group's findings were widely reported by the Washington Post, The Guardian, and Le Monde, and were cited by the United States Congress and the United Kingdom Parliament in their investigations into the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

● Conclusion and Legacy

The Iraq Survey Group's findings had significant implications for the United States and United Kingdom, as they undermined the primary justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group's reports were also widely criticized by conservative commentators, such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who argued that the group had failed to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction because it had not looked hard enough, despite the efforts of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the European Union to support the group's mission. The Iraq Survey Group's legacy continues to be debated by scholars and policymakers, including Noam Chomsky and Hans Blix, with some arguing that the group's findings were a major factor in the decline of public support for the War in Iraq.

● Criticism and Controversy

The Iraq Survey Group has been criticized for its methodology and its findings, with some arguing that the group was biased towards finding evidence of weapons of mass destruction and that its reports were influenced by political pressure from the United States and United Kingdom. The group has also been criticized for its failure to find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction, despite the claims of George W. Bush and Tony Blair that Iraq posed a significant threat to global security, with the support of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. The Iraq Survey Group's controversy has been the subject of several books and documentaries, including "The Iraq War" by John Keegan and "No End in Sight" by Charles Ferguson, and continues to be a topic of debate among scholars and policymakers, including Seymour Hersh and Robert Fisk. Category:2003 establishments in Iraq