Senate panel to review Bush info on Iraq

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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/02/13/senate_panel_to_review_bush_info_on_iraq/

Senate panel to review Bush info on Iraq
By Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press Writer, 2/13/2004

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Intelligence Committee has agreed to expand its review of intelligence on Iraq to examine whether the Bush administration accurately described the information it had on Saddam Hussein's weapons.

The committee will examine "whether public statements and reports and testimony regarding Iraq by U.S. government officials (between the 1991 Gulf War and the Iraq War) were substantiated by intelligence information," committee leaders said in a statement Thursday night.

The panel is nearing completion of a report expected to be extremely critical of the intelligence agencies' collection and analysis of prewar intelligence. Since the inquiry began in June, Democrats have insisted that the commission also examine whether the administration distorted intelligence to help build the case for war. Republicans have refused and both sides have accused the other of using the traditionally bipartisan committee for political purposes.

The expansion of the inquiry is not expected to delay the release of the committee's report. It is not clear how long it will take to review the administration statements or whether a public report would be released before the November election.

Pressure for the expanded inquiry grew after the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay, said last month that intelligence agencies had wrongly concluded Iraq had large chemical and biological weapon stockpiles and an advanced nuclear weapons program. That intelligence served as President Bush's main argument for war.