CIA told BBC, they warned Bush 'over uranium claim'

posted by ewing2001 on Tuesday July 08, @03:39PM

Bush 'warned over uranium claim'

Tuesday, 8 July, 2003 23:17 GMT

BBC

The CIA warned the US Government that claims about Iraq's nuclear ambitions were not true months before President Bush used them to make his case for war, the BBC has learned.

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Doubts about a claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the African state of Niger were aired 10 months before Mr Bush included the allegation in his key State of the Union address this year, the CIA has told the BBC. ---

But the CIA has said that a former US diplomat had already established the claim was false in March 2002 - and that the information had been passed on to government departments, including the White House, well before Mr Bush mentioned it in the speech.

Press Release by US Representative Schakowsky

JULY 8, 2003 SCHAKOWSKY: PRESIDENT BUSH FINALLY ADMITS HE MISLED THE NATION DURING STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

CHICAGO, IL –U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today issued the following statement after the White House finally admitted that President Bush should not have claimed in his State of the Union address that Iraq attempted to buy uranium in Africa to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program:

“After months of denials, President Bush has finally admitted that he misled the American public during his State of the Union address when he claimed that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium in Africa. That is why we need an independent commission to determine the veracity of the other so-called evidence used to convince the American people that war with Iraq was unavoidable.

“It is not enough for the White House to issue a statement saying that President Bush should not have used that piece of intelligence in his State of the Union address at a time when he was trying to convince the American people that invading Iraq was in our national security interests. Did the president know then what he says he only knows now? If not, why not, since that information was available at the highest level.

“What else did the Bush Administration lie about? What other faulty information did Administration officials, including President Bush, tell the American people and the world? Did the Bush Administration knowingly deceive us and manufacture intelligence in order to build public support for the invasion of Iraq? Did Iraq really pose an imminent threat to our nation?

“These questions must be answered. The American people deserve to know the full truth.”

Schakowsky is an original cosponsor of H.R. 2625, legislation authored by U.S. Representative Henry Waxman to create an independent commission - modeled after the September 11 Commission - to examine the intelligence about Iraq and the representations made by executive branch officials about this intelligence.

Nuclear watchdog denies Blair's claim of 'separate intelligence'

Independent -09 July 2003

Fresh doubts were raised yesterday about Britain's "separate intelligence" which, Tony Blair claimed, proved Iraq was seeking to acquire uranium from Africa.

Senior British officials told the Foreign Affairs Select Committee a fortnight ago that the intelligence had been passed to the International Atomic Energy Agency investigating Saddam Hussein's alleged plans to acquire nuclear weapons.

But yesterday it was revealed that the IAEA has no record of receiving "separate information". The only intelligence it had received came from the United States and contained documents that proved to be forged.

A nation of scared sheep
Salon (subscription) - 1 hour ago
... for the immediate need to invade Iraq or ... wearied of the drawn-out impeachment ... is it
that Americans have given Bush ... seemingly misleading and trumped-up evidence ...

A CRACK IN BUSH'S FAÇADE
Yahoo News - 5 hours ago
... thereof is leading to talk of impeachment. ... The Bush Administration didn't have proof ... Instead
of using intelligence as evidence ... poll said they believed that Iraq ...

Did Bush defender show deference to Clinton, too?
The Free Lance-Star, VA - 22 hours ago
... Sparks' letters defending Mr. Clinton when impeachment ... then states a connection between
Iraq ... the same type of reasoning Mr. Bush ... and there is still no evidence ...

Symposium : Bush ’ s Decision to Go to War . Was it Justified ?
Frontpagemag.com - Jul 4, 2003
... duty, yes duty on penalty of impeachment ... to tell the truth -- that the Bush ... Such evidence
is lacking and was probably ... falsified such as the accusation that Iraq ...

Patriots call for Bush's impeachment
OfficialSpin, UK - Jun 13, 2003
... could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment ... President Bush and his
lieutenants are alleged to have ... The evidence indicates that Iraq ...

Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offence?
Balochistan Post, Pakistan - Jun 30, 2003
... that the Administration, by cherrypicking only evidence ... But the war in Iraq is all ... To
put it bluntly, if Bush ... high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment ...

Look out, world
ABS CBN News, Philippines - Jul 4, 2003
... that “instead of using intelligence as evidence on ... States government has no proof
that Iraq ... for public hearings and even the impeachment of Bush ...

Iraq War Heroes
Democratic Underground - Jul 3, 2003
... in Iraq or searching for evidence of ... leaves no doubt that the Iraq ... come to the footage
of Mr. Bush ... of investigations, inquiries, commissions, even impeachment ...

THEY IMPEACH MURDERERS, DON'T THEY?
Yahoo News - Jun 30, 2003
... Evidence that falls short of 100 percent ... He said that Iraq could deploy its ... Agency
(news - web sites)." George W. Bush ... from the first Article of Impeachment ...

Why the Bush White House Should Be Prepared for Impeachment
Cybercast News Service - Jun 23, 2003
... to Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq ... Lord knows enough people hate George Bush in ... they
will take any scrap of "evidence ... it into a dozen articles of impeachment ...

IraqGate Australia -the latest

The Age

Wednesday 9 July 2003, 12:30 PM

The (Australian) federal government knew there were doubts about intelligence on Iraq's nuclear program but still used it to justify going to war, a former Australian intelligence officer said.

Andrew Wilkie, a former senior analyst with the Office of National Assessment (ONA), resigned from his post in March in protest at the government's stance on Iraq...

...Mr Wilkie said the ONA had made it clear to the Australian government there were doubts about Iraq's nuclear weapons program after receiving advice from the United States.

But Prime Minister John Howard has denied he knew the intelligence claims were in question.

IraqGate UK- the latest:

'Was Tony Blair fooling us?' - Guardian - Wednesday July 9, 2003

Is Niger the smoking gun? -

Bush under fire over Iraq claims -BBC -Wednesday, 9 July

Nelson Mandela supports Anti-Bush Protests on Bush's Africa Tour

Bush S. Africa Visit Sparks Protest

AP/ABC -JOHANNESBURG, South Africa July 8

"The whole African tour is a diversion away from Iraq," said Shaheed Mahomed, the chairman of the Anti-War Coalition in Cape Town. "This do-gooder visit is in response to a new Vietnam syndrome rising, as more and more body bags go to the U.S."

Other protests by members of the governing African National Congress, the South African Communist Party, trade unions and civil society groups are planned during the visit that begins Tuesday night and ends Friday.

The growth of anti-American and anti-Bush sentiment in South Africa has been accelerated by recent criticism from former President Nelson Mandela.

"For anybody, especially the leader of a super state, to act outside the United Nations is something that must be condemned by everybody," Mandela said last month.

The White House has declined to comment on Mandela's remarks.

In the weeks before the start of the Iraq war, Mandela called Bush arrogant and shortsighted. He also accused Bush of undermining the United Nations and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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