Intelligence analyst prevented from speaking

November 5, 2003
Issue 

BY AUSTIN WHITTEN

SYDNEY — Anthony Billingsley, a former foreign affairs officer and Office of National Assessments analyst, abruptly cancelled a lecture at Macquarie University on October 23, the day before it was to be delivered.

The ONA, his employer until the week prior to the lecture, had threatened to have his security clearance cancelled if he went through with his talk. Billingsley was scheduled to speak on "Secret intelligence and the war in Iraq".

The lecture was sponsored by Macquarie University's Centre for Middle East and North African Studies. A spokesperson for the centre said that Billingsley had submitted his speech to the ONA and had received approval to deliver it.

The Office of National Assessments is supposed to be an autonomous government body that reports directly to the Prime Minister. Working on contract, Billingsley was one of 30 specialist analysts. He served as a diplomat with the Australian Foreign Service from 1972 to 1987, with postings in Beirut, Cairo, Damascus and Ottawa and numerous roles at head office in Canberra.

Another ONA analyst, Andrew Wilkie, publicly announced his resignation in March, stating that based on US and other intelligence information he had seen, there was no justification for invading Iraq.

At the last minute, the meeting organisers contacted Wilkie, who flew to Sydney on 24 hours' notice to stand in. Wilkie said that if Billingsley lost his security clearance, he would not be able to work for the government at any time in the future. Wilkie has been unemployed since his resignation.

Wilkie said that the government misused intelligence information in three ways: by misrepresenting the facts — citing Iraq's misdeeds, like the gassing of Kurds, as if it happened yesterday instead of 12 years ago; by selective misuse of facts — the relatively low risk of a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat played up to seem to be a high risk; and outright fabrication — creating a link between Iraq and al Qaeda when there was no evidence for this claim.

During his presentation, Wilkie said that although the search for weapons of mass destruction is still going on, it is no longer possible to give any credence to the claim they exist: "It would not be possible for Iraq to dismantle and hide WMD's that existed on the level that was claimed to justify the invasion." Although some hidden weapons may yet be unearthed, they will be minor in nature.

While Wilkie feels vindicated, he told the meeting that, given what he has endured since March, he wouldn't recommend that anyone do what he did without thinking about the consequences.

When asked by a questioner why, in light of the government's "big lie", no action is being taken, Wilkie stated that there are two major factors: a weak and ineffectual opposition and a biased media, whose "standards" are set by the Murdoch empire.

The ONA's questionable decision to suppress Anthony Billingsley's speech backfired in a big way — the audience was so impressed by Wilkie's arguments they gave him a standing ovation.

From Green Left Weekly, November 5, 2003.
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