Aussie analyst resigns, is vilified for anti-war stance

A SENIOR intelligence analyst who quit in protest at Australia's role in a potential war against Iraq today said he had already been vilified for his stand.

Senior analyst Andrew Wilkie resigned from the Office of National Assessments (ONA), the office which advises Prime Minister John Howard on international issues of importance to Australia.

Wilkie today said Iraq did not pose a security threat to any country, its military was weak and its weapons of mass destruction program disjointed and contained.

The Iraq problem was unrelated to the war on terror, he said.

Mr Wilkie, a former army officer, says a war against Iraq would be bad policy and that Australia's position is based on incomplete information.

Most of the British and American intelligence community also disagrees with the public "facts" that their governments have put forward.