Fellow Catters,

there is more here than meets the eye. If you think that this is all of the information that our intel assets have generated over the past few months you are mistaken. There will have been covert ops going on for some time now (if they ever really stopped) to determine the extent of the threat. If confidence is high that Mr Hussein is going to mobilise in the light of the intel produced by these assets then actually publishing the information would probably compromise them. These assets are probaby humint sources who would face torture and death at the republican guards hands or the hands of Mr Hussein's secret police maybe even at his own hands.

We know how he treats his own people should they oppose him. If he gains military ascendancy in the region he will threaten other Arab Nations. These nations are aware of the threat posed and while they publicly oppose military action would welcome the removal of this despot.

The document submitted by Mr Blair is woefully short on beleivable hard fact however be assured no leader would contemplate a move like this unless it were to avert a serious threat. A stitch in time as we say..

I am an ex soldier and have a reasonable idea as to just what anyone would have to confront were this conflict to escalate to an NBC exchange. The alternative is an Eastern region dominated by Mr Hussein and the consequent control he woudl gain over our economies through threats to Opec countries. Mass slaughter on a scale that made ww2 attrocities seem insignificant and a possible nuclear exchange with Israel which would threaten all life on earth.

GM