Administration Exposed on Bogus Use of Intelligence

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, CIA director George Tenet exposed the Bush administration's misleading statements on the use of prewar intelligence on Iraq. Tenet told the committee he personally intervened on several occasions to correct public statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney falsely claiming "conclusive evidence" of Iraqi efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Tenet revealed he learned just last week that in August 2002, senior aides to Vice President Cheney were presented – without the CIA’s knowledge – false and misleading evidence linking Saddam and al Qaeda by Pentagon officials running a separate intelligence unit. The vice president trumpets this evidence today despite repeated warnings about its veracity.

• The Bush administration knew its statements about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were false, yet continued to mislead the American public about the need for war. In January 2002, Tenet specifically intervened to correct President Bush’s claim about Iraq seeking uranium from Africa – the now infamous "16 words" from the State of the Union address. Later that month, he also corrected a statement by Vice President Cheney falsely portraying mobile trailers as biological weapons labs. Despite these warnings, the Bush administration continued to hype the need for rapid war in Iraq by elevating public fear about imminent threats that never existed.
• The Bush administration continues to push discredited information today. As recently as January 2004, Vice President Cheney publicly presented false evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, the vice president referred to a memo from Douglas Feith, under secretary of defense for policy, as "your best source of information" on the link – an illegally leaked memo never endorsed by any credible intelligence agency.
• In refusing to acknowledge or correct its deceptions on intelligence, the administration’s word on national security cannot be taken at face value. Instead of admitting past mistakes the current administration continues a now long standing practice of deception. Instead of fixing intelligence failures it stonewalls investigations and stymies reforms. And instead of reassuring the American public it has learned from mishaps, the administration acts like it has done nothing wrong. This is not a recipe for future trust on national security matters.

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