Officer backs Iraq war

PROVO — Despite having poor information about weapons of mass destruction at the invasion of Iraq, the United States made the correct decision to launch an offensive to depose Saddam Hussein, according to a retired senior intelligence officer.

"My own motive was to get involved to remove a brutal dictator," retired U.S. Army Col. Russell Thaden said Monday at Brigham Young University.

His address was among the events planned for International Education Week, a joint venture of the U.S. State Department and the Department of Education.

Thaden's military career spanned 34 years and five wars. He will soon return to Iraq as a civilian to help lead military intelligence, he said.

Saddam caused problems in the Middle East. In addition to invading Kuwait, the former Iraqi leader threatened Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Turkey was the only neighbor Saddam did not threaten, probably because of the country's superior military, Thaden said.

Although weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq, Thaden believes Sad-

dam possessed them. After Desert Storm, U.S. intelligence officers learned that Saddam had a more advanced nuclear program than previously thought. And, Thaden said, he used chemical weapons on the Kurdish people in northern Iraq.

"I certainly believed that" Saddam had WMDs, Thaden said. "And I had access to fairly sensitive intelligence."

"Was he involved in 9/11?" Thaden said. "I never saw any credible evidence there."

Timing also was key to invading Iraq. Geo-politics made it impossible throughout the 1990s, Thaden said.

"It was politically possible (to invade) after 9/11," Thaden said. "The (U.S.) administration could build a case."

"Inadequate planning" on the part of the U.S. can be blamed for the insurgency. There were not enough troops in Baghdad initially to enforce order once Saddam's government left. There was looting and other crime, he said.

Thaden is "guardedly optimistic" that U.S. and Iraqi troops can overcome the insurgencies from the Sunnis, Shiites, Baathists and funda- mental religious leaders such al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

But Thaden worries the U.S. military may leave Iraq too soon, and the fledging democracy will crumble.

"If the U.S. population says we're done, we're done," he said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com