“We have a stronger case than many people realize,” said Powell

WASHINGTON, February 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected on Wednesday, February 5, to give the U.N. Security Council cast-iron evidence that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration has decideded to release what U.S. experts call some of "the most jealously guarded of all U.S. intelligence secrets."

The decision to allow Powell to use electronic intercepts, gathered by America's most secretive agency, the National Security Agency (NSA), was described by U.S. intelligence officials as extraordinary, the U.S. Newsweek reported Friday, February 1.

For the past two months, ever since the U.N. inspectors returned to Iraq and began searching for alleged weapons of mass destruction, the NSA has been closely monitoring the conversations of Iraqi officials.

According to the Newsweek, the electronic intercepts reportedly prove that Iraqi officials have repeatedly lied to U.N. inspectors, plotted among themselves about how to conceal weapons material and even appeared to boast their success.

The NSA intercepts establish "conclusively" that the Iraqis have been “hiding stuff” from the inspectors, it quoted a U.S. intelligence official as saying.

“They’re saying things like, ‘Move that,’ ‘Don’t be reporting that’ and ‘Ha! Can you believe they missed that’,” the official said.

The NSA intercepts are usually strictly classified stuff, since U.S. intelligence officials fear that invaluable sources of information may be lost if released.

However, in this case the intercepts "are so damning and dramatic that their release outweighs the potential harm," especially given the increased likelihood that the United States will shortly be launching an "invasion" of Iraq, said the Newsweek.

Officials at the CIA, the State Department, the National Security Council and Vice President Cheney’s office were said to be “working shoulder to shoulder reviewing raw data” to determine precisely how much information can be declassified for use in Powell’s report to the U.N., it added.

“Hold onto your hat. We’ve got it,” said one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the reported evidence gathered by the NSA.

A White House senior official, in addition, said the electronic intercepts were only one part of a much broader picture that would include satellite photos and other evidence showing Iraqi noncompliance with the U.N. disarmament resolution.

“When people hear it all, you’ll see a burning forest. Powell's speech will contain a lot of different pieces of information that add up to painting a compelling picture,” he said.

One U.S. official who had dinner with Powell recently said the secretary remarked how “we have a stronger case than many people realize.”

U.S. officials argue that the state-of-the-art electronic intercepts will persuade an increasingly skeptical public in the United States and other Western nations about the nature of the case against Iraq.

“I’m all for it. It’s very important to have popular and multinational support for this effort,” said Rep. Jane Harman of California.

The Bush administration's decision to release such classified information aims at bolstering the U.S. case in the U.N. Security Council, where leading members, including Russia, China, France and Germany, oppose an early decision to go to war.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have also increased calls on the administration to make public what it knows.

On December 23, 2002, an adviser to Saddam, General Amir al-Saadi, invited CIA personnel to direct arms inspectors to any suspect sites if they had intelligence on alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The United States, however, has dismissed as a stunt Iraq's offer to admit CIA agents to assist United Nations arms inspectors.