White House to Review Prewar Intelligence on Iraqi Arms

[muchacho]

I hope they're better at this than they are at finding CIA outing leaks or anthrax mailers...

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — Bush administration officials insisted today that the Iraq war was justified, but they promised further review of prewar intelligence after the outgoing chief American weapons inspector said that he was almost certain that Iraq had no significant banned weaponry before the war.

In interviews over the weekend, the lead inspector, David A. Kay, said that he did not believe that Iraq had significant biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in the days before the American-led invasion in March, and he did not believe that any such weapons had been shipped to Syria.

The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said today that the C.I.A. had already begun reviewing its prewar analyses. But final conclusions, he said, could not be made until the team seeking weapons evidence in Iraq, the Iraq Survey Group, completed its work.

"We want to compare the intelligence before the war with what the Iraq Survey Group learns," he said. "Their mission is ongoing."

Mr. McClellan repeatedly asserted that in view of what he said was a "dangerous and gathering threat" from Iraq, the war had been justified.

Meanwhile, two senior American officials traveling separately abroad, as well as officials of two important allies of the United States in the war, Britain and Australia, continued to defend the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

One of the officials, Attorney General John Ashcroft, used strong language in Vienna, where he met with Austrian officials, but was careful not to explicitly assert that Saddam had possessed banned weapons before the war.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/26/international/middleeast/26CND-REACT.html?amp;ei=5062&en=0acbccddabf22b70&partner=GOOGLE&ex=1075784400&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1075172451-83l3Ig5a7oxAuCSys8gUxQ

[Elad]

1. That headline strikes me as odd

"White House to Review Prewar Intelligence on Iraqi Arms"

It seems to me maybe they should have done that before the war.

[sistersofmercy]

6. Yes that would be an excellent point.

unfortunately the radically driven unthinking hawks in the misadministration are the leap before you look kind. I hope they just keep on leaping right into an orange jumpsuit.

[sistersofmercy]

2. Well, they can start with the INC!

You know the ones who had a base in Northern Kurdish controlled Iraq, funded by the CIA through congress and have supplied much the unintelligence in Iraq and Saddam.

[Dudley_DUright]

3. What a joke

They should be reviewing Cheney's behavior and the cabal in the pentagon's office of special projects.

[sendero]

4. I'm so comforted...

... that the liars and fools in the White House are going to "double-check".

I'm sure they will spank themselves once they determine that they are in fact liars and fools.

[KissMyAsscroft]

5. I was wondering when they were going to clear themselves

of wrongdoing!

Damn, maybe Cheney will start up the OSP again to clear himself!

Half of our country is fucking braindead to not see through this.

[moondust]

7. "Voters to Review White House Intelligence or Lack Thereof"

"We want to compare the intelligence currently in the White House to that of a nearby rock," said one voter.

[iam]

8. "Snake-oil salesman

to review accuracy of snake-oil claims".
Conclusion: "The snake was at fault".

[pinto]

9. Tenet to retire......................n/t

[Politicub]

10. big news...

but I had to LOL at myself by thinking thing headline said, "White House to Review Prayer Intelligence..."

Wouldn't put that past them -- bunch of loony, evil wackos.

[Nancy Waterman]

12. This report from Kay seems to blame the Intelligence agencies

and exonerate Bush. Kay keeps stressing that everyone thought there were weapons there. I distinctly remember a lot of people (including France and Germany) asking for some real proof and it was never forthcoming. Until Powell's famous speech that is. And that was entirely bogus.

[AlinPA]

11. They will go back and blame it all on Clinton.

[Politicub]

13. It will stick to *

The * is tarred with the Iraq debacle. It will take some artful dodging to pass the Iraq buck.

We all had a more prosperous and peaceful existence under Clinton. People remember that about the Clinton years.

[muchacho]

14. or...

on his penis.

[Politicub]

15. Think of how the

hysteria that surrounded Clinton's penis will look to the historians 100 years from now.