Devildogg4ever
07-12-03, 03:36 AM
Bush blames own spies for Iraq uranium claims
By PAUL KORING
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Washington — Seeking to avert a credibility meltdown that could pose the first serious threat to his presidency, George W. Bush blamed his own spies yesterday, saying they had approved a now-discredited claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium for a nuclear-weapons program.
Mr. Bush and some of his top cabinet members fought a spirited rearguard action for a second day as their tour of Africa — designed to boost the U.S. President's image — was again overshadowed by the weapons brouhaha.
A growing number of critics, including leading Democrats, have suggested the President misled Americans during last January's State of the Union address by suggesting the Iraqi regime had shopped for nuclear-weapons materials in Africa.
"I gave a speech to the nation that was cleared by the intelligence services," Mr. Bush said.
His National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin Powell also went to some lengths to explain the President's words and blame the Central Intelligence Agency.
CIA director George Tenet accepted blame last night for not properly vetting the President's speech, issuing a statement in which he said: "I am responsible for the approval process in my agency."
The controversy centres on a British intelligence claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the West African nation of Niger.
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," Mr. Bush said in his speech, which was watched around the world and hailed as a call to arms.
It was later revealed the British information was based on bogus trading certificates.
"The President had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound. These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the President," Mr. Tenet said.
Ms. Rice said the broader claim that Iraq sought to buy uranium from several African countries "may still be true."
"But having very high standards for what we put in a presidential speech, knowing now that at least one of the documents underlying this story was a forgery, we wouldn't have put it in the President's speech," she said.
At stake is far more than the weapons claim. For the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the President's own credibility is being openly questioned, and the dire warnings about the supposedly vast and dangerous Iraqi arsenals of weapons of mass destruction are in doubt.
"This breaks the basic bond of trust we must have with our leaders in times of war and terrorism," Senator Joe Lieberman, a leading Democratic presidential hopeful who strongly supported the war, said yesterday.
"We should not play fast and loose with our intelligence information," Mr. Lieberman said. Then, using a phrase made famous during the Watergate scandal, he said: "Quite simply, we need to know what people in the administration knew about the weakness of our uranium intelligence reports and when they knew it."
Sixteen Democratic congressmen also made public a blunt letter to the President, asking: "What reassurance can Congress and the American public receive that the other claims you made in your State of the Union speech regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs are based on solid intelligence information and analysis?"
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, another Democratic presidential hopeful and supporter of the war, said the President "needs to be honest with the American people." A third contender, Florida Senator Bob Graham, said: "Day after day, the Bush administration fails to confess the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the use of intelligence leading us to war with Iraq."
Mr. Tenet said there were "legitimate questions" about the CIA's conduct, as attention in the controversy shifted from the White House to his agency. CIA officials believed the Niger allegation was based on "fragmentary intelligence gathered in late 2001 and early 2002," the director said.
He explained that the CIA had dispatched a former diplomat to West Africa to investigate the allegations. The diplomat discovered that only broad discussions had taken place between Niger officials and Iraqis.
The unnamed diplomat reportedly passed on his findings to Vice-President Dick Cheney's office. But Mr. Tenet said the CIA "did not brief it to the President, Vice-President or other senior administration officials."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030712.ubush0712/BNStory/International/
By PAUL KORING
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Washington — Seeking to avert a credibility meltdown that could pose the first serious threat to his presidency, George W. Bush blamed his own spies yesterday, saying they had approved a now-discredited claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium for a nuclear-weapons program.
Mr. Bush and some of his top cabinet members fought a spirited rearguard action for a second day as their tour of Africa — designed to boost the U.S. President's image — was again overshadowed by the weapons brouhaha.
A growing number of critics, including leading Democrats, have suggested the President misled Americans during last January's State of the Union address by suggesting the Iraqi regime had shopped for nuclear-weapons materials in Africa.
"I gave a speech to the nation that was cleared by the intelligence services," Mr. Bush said.
His National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin Powell also went to some lengths to explain the President's words and blame the Central Intelligence Agency.
CIA director George Tenet accepted blame last night for not properly vetting the President's speech, issuing a statement in which he said: "I am responsible for the approval process in my agency."
The controversy centres on a British intelligence claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the West African nation of Niger.
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," Mr. Bush said in his speech, which was watched around the world and hailed as a call to arms.
It was later revealed the British information was based on bogus trading certificates.
"The President had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound. These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the President," Mr. Tenet said.
Ms. Rice said the broader claim that Iraq sought to buy uranium from several African countries "may still be true."
"But having very high standards for what we put in a presidential speech, knowing now that at least one of the documents underlying this story was a forgery, we wouldn't have put it in the President's speech," she said.
At stake is far more than the weapons claim. For the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the President's own credibility is being openly questioned, and the dire warnings about the supposedly vast and dangerous Iraqi arsenals of weapons of mass destruction are in doubt.
"This breaks the basic bond of trust we must have with our leaders in times of war and terrorism," Senator Joe Lieberman, a leading Democratic presidential hopeful who strongly supported the war, said yesterday.
"We should not play fast and loose with our intelligence information," Mr. Lieberman said. Then, using a phrase made famous during the Watergate scandal, he said: "Quite simply, we need to know what people in the administration knew about the weakness of our uranium intelligence reports and when they knew it."
Sixteen Democratic congressmen also made public a blunt letter to the President, asking: "What reassurance can Congress and the American public receive that the other claims you made in your State of the Union speech regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs are based on solid intelligence information and analysis?"
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, another Democratic presidential hopeful and supporter of the war, said the President "needs to be honest with the American people." A third contender, Florida Senator Bob Graham, said: "Day after day, the Bush administration fails to confess the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the use of intelligence leading us to war with Iraq."
Mr. Tenet said there were "legitimate questions" about the CIA's conduct, as attention in the controversy shifted from the White House to his agency. CIA officials believed the Niger allegation was based on "fragmentary intelligence gathered in late 2001 and early 2002," the director said.
He explained that the CIA had dispatched a former diplomat to West Africa to investigate the allegations. The diplomat discovered that only broad discussions had taken place between Niger officials and Iraqis.
The unnamed diplomat reportedly passed on his findings to Vice-President Dick Cheney's office. But Mr. Tenet said the CIA "did not brief it to the President, Vice-President or other senior administration officials."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030712.ubush0712/BNStory/International/