IraqGate- Chuck Hagel: "Bush admin credibility at stake"

Bush administration credibility at stake on WMD question, says GOP Sen. Hagel

WASHINGTON (AP) The question of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction has left a cloud over the Bush administration's credibility that won't be removed until Americans know whether the administration was straightforward with them, a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday.

At the same time, the committee's chairman and its senior Democrat said it is too early to say whether prewar weapons intelligence was manipulated or hyped before the U.S.-led invasion in March, as some Democrats have suggested.

The committee began last week an inquiry into the administration's use of intelligence to justify the invasion, specifically assertions that President Saddam Hussein had thriving programs to develop chemical and biological weapons and had tried to obtain material for nuclear arms.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said the administration is cooperating with the committee hearings, and he expects the cooperation to continue.

''This is a cloud hanging over their credibility, their word,'' said Hagel. ''They need to get that dealt with, taken care of, removed.''

GFP's Daily Iraq-Gate Google-O-Meter:

Sens . Roberts , Rockefeller Discuss War on Terror
FOX News - 7 hours ago
... ROBERTS: I have no evidence of that ... and the enriched uranium that was meant to have
been imported into Iraq ... it, that it was 10 years out of date, it was forged ...
        Bush administration credibility at stake on WMD question, says ...  - Boston Globe
       Bush overstated knowledge of Iraq's link to Al-Qaida, officials ...  - Minneapolis Star Tribune
       Charleston Post Courier

Rudd questioned on Canada's travel advisories
ABC Online, Australia - 20 hours ago
... In Britain there is evidence now that forged documents were used at ... before, PM Howard
says directly to the Australian people that evidence of Iraq's ...

Bush speech overstated Iraq report
Indian Express, India - 2 hours ago
... Iraq and indicated documents alleging that were forged. ... on October 7, made his case
that Iraq ... Although the President offered essentially circumstantial evidence ...
       Report Cast Doubt on Iraq-Al Qaeda Connection - Novinite
       The garbage intelligence that helped to unleash a war - Sydney Morning Herald

The Left Proves Hypocrisy on WMD ’ s
American Daily, OH - 10 hours ago
... York Times is demanding to know whether or not Bush “forged ... to respond effectively
to the threat posed by Iraq ... is now saying that “there is too much evidence ...

Voice of the reader
Billings Gazette, MT - 14 hours ago
... In a State of the Union speech quoting a letter (later proven to have been forged)
as evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium for use in nuclear weapons ...

Blair should investigated forged Iraqi papers, says slurred MP
IRNA, Iran - Jun 21, 2003
... on Prime Minister Tony Blair to lead an inquiry into forged ... as head of the co-occupying
power in Iraq ... regime two months ago after admitting its claimed evidence ...
       Paper defends Saddam report on MP - Financial Times (subscription)
       Forgery revelation fails to clear Galloway - Sunday Herald
       British politician rejects US paper allegations . - Hi Pakistan
       Doylestown Intelligencer

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq: Bush's "big lie" and the ...
World Socialist - Jun 20, 2003
... sought uranium from Niger, in west Africa—this proved to based on forged ... in a series
of reports to the Security Council, found no evidence that Iraq ...
       Everybody thought Saddam had bombs - International Herald Tribune

Saddam's Bombs? We'll Find Them
New York Times - Jun 19, 2003
... Bush administration's argument to square with the evidence ... that the administration
knew its contention that Iraq ... purchase uranium from Niger was based on forged ...

White House was warned of dubious intelligence used in speech, ...
Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau, CA - Jun 19, 2003
... We've acknowledged that some documents were forged and we ... But they were only one
piece of evidence in a larger body of evidence suggesting that Iraq ...

Data didn't back Bush claims on Iraqi weapons, officials say
Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau, CA - Jun 19, 2003
... officials said his statement was based on documents forged ... Bush, Powell and others
spoke of Iraq's ... that extensive investigation "failed to uncover any evidence ...

Howard's Iraq evidence on parade in UK
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - Jun 15, 2003
... Australian defence analyst was unexpectedly called to give evidence ... inquiry into allegations
that the Blair Government fabricated intelligence on Iraq ...

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq: Bush's "big lie" and the ...
World Socialist - Jun 20, 2003
... of September 11, despite a mass of evidence ... the Bush administration, and now endorsing
the conquest of Iraq ... affair—in which a junior Times reporter fabricated ...

Party says government has lied about intelligence before
WorldNetDaily - Jun 20, 2003
... Democrats and Republicans allegedly manufactured intelligence evidence ... Libertarian
Party opposed the war in Iraq. ... determined that the story had been fabricated ...

Seven searching questions for Jack Straw to answer
Independent, UK - Jun 21, 2003
... expert on the WMD issue who has given written evidence ... to show that Niger had agreed
to supply Iraq with uranium, are widely acknowledged to be fabricated ...

The Unravelling Of Tony Blair
Khilafah.com - Jun 21, 2003
... inspector, has spoken this truth: the invasion of Iraq was planned long ago, he
said, and that the issue of weapons rested largely on "fabricated evidence". ...

Bush administration lacks a plan for Iran
Coshocton Tribune, OH - Jun 21, 2003
... There's no evidence that the administration has opted for those ... In February, during
the run-up to the latest Iraq ... spent fuel and not allow it to be fabricated ...

WMD and Senator Byrd
Crikey, Australia - Jun 18, 2003
... an alleged sale from Niger to Iraq were fabricated ... Hussein to weapons of mass destruction
(how tiresome), and Iraq ... Crucially, as far as the use of evidence was ...

Minister defends Iraq intelligence assessment
Guardian, UK - Jun 18, 2003
... He argues that the JIC dossier's claim that Iraq had ... of uranium from Africa" was not
based on fabricated ... Giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee, the ...

Troubling questions over justification for war in Iraq
Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau, CA - Jun 19, 2003
... critics say, appears to have been based on fabricated ... CIA officials on Wednesday
said US troops in Iraq ... weapons, but they said the labs contained no evidence ...

Intelligence agencies may avoid inquiry scrutiny
The Age, Australia - 9 hours ago
A parliamentary inquiry into the intelligence received by the ... of the weapons of mass
destruction it said Iraq ... Much of the evidence would be taken in camera, Mr ...
       Key intelligence bodies may not front Iraq inquiry - ABC Online
       Australia's Iraq WMD intelligence probe asks analysts to ...  - SpaceDaily
       Spies set to stay silent over Iraq - The Age
       The Age - Sydney Morning Herald - and more »

Kelly backs calls for inquiry into Iraq intelligence
ABC Online, Australia - 20 hours ago
... when 88 Australians died in Bali this must be evidence ... PAUL KELLY: Barrie, there has
to be an inquiry ... whether weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq ...
       Spies under fire over quality of intelligence - Advertiser

Senate Panel Strikes Deal on Inquiry Into Iraq Arms Intelligence
Common Dreams - 7 hours ago
... that had threatened the chances for a bipartisan approach to the inquiry ... to pursue
the issue of prewar intelligence out of fear that evidence of Iraq's ...
       Sens . Roberts , Rockefeller Discuss War on Terror - FOX News
       Senators Reluctant to Criticize Bush on Iraqi Weapons - Voice of America
       Bush administration credibility at stake on WMD question, says ...  - Boston Globe
       Charleston Post Courier

Rudd questioned on Canada's travel advisories
ABC Online, Australia - 20 hours ago
... exercise said that we shouldn't have an inquiry ... there is Australian-sourced intelligence
involved in the Iraq ... BARRIE CASSIDY: Where is the evidence that there ...

IRAQI LOOTERS MAY HAVE STOLEN WEAPONS EVIDENCE SAYS BUSH
The Sentinel, UK - 12 hours ago
... was determined to discover the true extent of Iraq's ... Tony Blair - who has been accused
of manipulating the evidence ... Robin Cook and Clare Short told an inquiry ...
       Iraq weapons 'will be found' - BBC News

Joint inquiry into Iraq evidence
The Age, Australia - Jun 18, 2003
An inquiry will be held into the accuracy of Australia's intelligence on Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction capability before the outbreak of war. ...

House panel rejects Kucinich inquiry into Iraq evidence
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH - Jun 18, 2003
Dennis Kucinich's resolution of inquiry, which sought the release of evidence used
by the Bush administration to support claims that Iraq possessed weapons of ...

Bodies tested in hunt for Saddam
The Glasgow Herald, UK - 35 minutes ago
... The two senators are overseeing a closed inquiry ... the Bush administration exaggerated
the threat from Iraq's ... foreign affairs committee this week giving evidence ...
       Tony Karon's Weblog: Will Blair's Iraq Firestorm Burn Bush? - TIME
       I guess I ’ m one of those “ revisionist historians . ” - Doylestown Intelligencer

Howard's Iraq evidence on parade in UK
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - Jun 15, 2003
... British parliamentary inquiry into the doctoring of intelligence on Iraq after a
former Australian defence analyst was unexpectedly called to give evidence. ...

IraqGate Finland

Financial Times

June 22 2003

"...The future may be busier for another conventioneer, Finland's Matti Vanhanen. The country's looking for a prime minister after Anneli Jäätteenmäki resigned last week.

She stepped down after just two months because of the country's "Iraqgate" scandal over leaked memos, including one of a meeting between former prime minister Paavo Lipponen and US president George W. Bush.

Lipponen, a Social Democrat, is unlikely to come back, as the job is expected to remain in the hands of the Centre party.

Defence minister Vanhanen, 47, is therefore the frontrunner. Amazingly for a Finnish politician, he is described as solid and efficient, if a little grey. He also built his own house, so presumably knows about firm (political) foundations..."

<  IraqGate: Judith Miller (NY Times) Under Attack For Fabrications | IraqGate UK: Campbell will face WMD inquiry  >