White House Releases Pre-War Intelligence
VOA News
18 Jul 2003, 21:22 UTC
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL HOLDS
BACKGROUND BRIEFING ON
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ
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The White House has released part of a pre-war intelligence report in a bid to justify its decision to wage war with Iraq.
A summary of last October's National Intelligence Assessment argues there was compelling evidence that the government of Saddam Hussein was trying to rebuild its nuclear weapons program. The report, compiled by various intelligence services and overseen by the CIA, said that if left unchecked, Iraq probably would have a nuclear weapon during this decade. But the report also contained a footnote from the State Department's intelligence bureau pointing out that claims that Iraq was trying to get uranium from Africa were "highly dubious."
Mr. Bush said in his January State of the Union address that British intelligence had learned of Iraqi's nuclear intentions in Africa. The CIA deleted a similar reference in a speech Mr. Bush gave the previous October. Critics have questioned why the claim re-appeared in January, attributed to another country.
The White House said last week the claim should not have been included in the State of the Union address, though some administration officials argued that it was "technically correct." British officials have stood by the claim, despite U.S. findings that documents concerning Iraqi overtures to buy uranium in Niger were forged.
CIA director George Tenet took responsibility for allowing the claim to appear in the president's speech.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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