George Tenet : Clearing State of Union text was mistake

posted by ewing2001 on Friday July 11, @11:54AM

CIA's Tenet Takes Blame for Fake Iraq Claim

Fri July 11, 2003 06:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director George Tenet took responsibility on Friday for President Bush's false accusation that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Africa, saying his agency should have cut it from the State of the Union address.

"I am responsible for the approval process in my agency," Tenet said in a statement marking the latest twist in the controversy dogging both the British and U.S. governments.

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Washington Post reported earlier, CIA knew about forgery

"We consulted about the paper and recommended against using that material," a senior administration official familiar with the intelligence program said.

WP's latest alteration (Friday 11th, 6:53 PM )

"... Although the CIA did not learn until well after the president's speech in January that some documents obtained by British intelligence that formed the basis of the Iraq-Niger uranium allegations were forged, CIA officials recognized at the beginning that the allegation was based on "fragmentary intelligence gathered in late 2001 and early 2002," the director said..."

CBS reported, that "Bush knew that Iraq info was false"

WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU

"...The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hadn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them -- despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

Powell's lies of his February 5th speech

GFP Archive 'Powell misled UN in his speech on Iraq's WMD'

Monday, April 14 2003 22:48 Hrs (IST)

IndiaInfo

Mainz: Two UN weapons inspectors working in Iraq before the war contested as "completely wrong" parts of a speech given by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations in February on the country's arms programmes.

There had been no factories making weapons of mass destruction as claimed by Washington based on a series of photographs showing ventilation systems on top of certain buildings, they said in an interview with German ARD television to be broadcast on April 14.

"We investigated the photos that were shown, and we found they had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction," said Joem Siljeholm from Norway, adding, parts of Powell's presentation were "misleading" or "completely wrong".

Mobile laboratories dealing with biological weapons described by Powell to the UN Security Council also did not really exist.

OneNews NZ -Jul 11, 2003

Demand for truth about Iraq

"...Last September, in a bid to win public support for possible war, Blair published a dossier saying Iraq had chemical and biological weapons that could be deployed at 45 minutes notice.

Blair's government is now locked in an acrimonious row with the BBC over a claim the government "sexed up" the dossier. The BBC quoted an anonymous intelligence source.

In the latest twist, the Ministry of Defence has challenged the BBC to say whether the source for the claim was former U.N. weapons inspector David Kelly - who the government says played only a limited role in compiling the September dossier.

Blair's spokesman said the government now assumes Kelly was the BBC's source since the broadcaster will not name names.

A parliamentary committee said this week Blair's government did not mislead parliament or doctor evidence to justify the war on Iraq. But the foreign affairs committee said it gave undue prominence to the 45-minute claim and said "the jury is still out" on the quality of intelligence used to make Blair's case.

IraqGate Australia: Three agencies knew about error

Other Iraq Smoking Guns-articles

Iraqgate- UN Inspector Jørn Siljeholm: "Powell bluffed the UN"

Secret "Waldorf Transcripts": Powell + Straw had doubts on Iraq Evidence

Poland confirmed "ultimate objective" in Iraq was Oil

Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil

Iraq-Al Quaeda ties-U.S. Insiders Say Iraq Intel Deliberately Skewed

The History Of The Administration's Lies About WMD