A non-governmental majority wants a review of just how much the military intelligence service FE knew prior to the invasion of Iraq, according to Information.

The Defence Spokesman for the Danish People's Party Søren Espersen wants an explanation as to how the service could get it so wrong in its evaluation that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"How can we otherwise have faith in the service next time we have to go to war," says Espersen.

Opposition clap
The Social Liberals, Social Democrats, Socialist People's Party and the Unity List are enthusiastic about Espersen's statement, which comes prior to the prime minister's appearance in front of the Parliamentary Defence Committee to answer questions about the Iraq war.

The prime minister has been called before the committee by the Social Democratic Defence Spokesman John Dyrby Paulsen. The decision to call in the prime minister came in the wake of a recent statement from the ruling Liberal Party's primary EU candidate Jens Rohde, who suggested that the governemnt had used the wrong arguments in sending Denmark to war.

Espersen has also raised the issue of NATO's military intervention in the Balkans in 1999 when, he says, the service also failed in its task.

Twice
"FE has made two big mistakes in four years. They were wrong regarding Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and they were wrong regarding Kosovo, where claims of mass graves were the basis upon which we went to war in 1999 and bombed a European capital," Espersen says.

The Danish People's Party has also asked the Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller whether the government continues to have faith in FE and other Western intelligence services.

"When we get the answers to these questions on November 12th, we will decide what to do next," says Espersen.