Australian PM says had to plead with Bush for Iraq intelligence

Australian PM says had to plead with Bush for Iraq intelligence

Wed Oct 4, 3:14 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard admitted that he was forced to plead with ally US President George W. Bush for access to secret intelligence on the war on Iraq.

Howard, one of the key US allies in Bush's global war on terror, personally intervened to end delays in receiving key intelligence on the war in Iraq that Canberra is helping fight, he said in comments published Wednesday.

"He (Bush) said it would happen, and then when it didn't happen immediately, I expressed my concern," Howard said.

His comments confirmed claims by US journalist Bob Woodward that Howard and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were forced to make repeated appeals to Bush for access to highly classified intelligence.

Snip...

Rather than follow White House orders and allow unfettered access to its intelligence network, the Pentagon instead created a parallel version that excluded information the military did not want Australia and Britain to see, Woodward said.

"I wasn't very happy with those delays," Howard told reporters. "That's why I intervened, and now I'm advised that (information) flows are occurring that are meant to occur."

However, the access was not granted until 2005, a year after Howard first appealed to Bush and two years after the start of the war in Iraq, according to the Sydney Morning Herald

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061004/wl_afp/australiausiraqwarintelligencehoward_061004064122