Bush abides with Iraq intelligence
US President George W Bush, in a bid to direct the media’s critical eye away from the unsubstantiated claims in his State of the Nation Address in January, namely that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa, has said the intelligence he received was “darn good.”
Mr Bush insisted lethal weapons in Iraq would eventually be found and the US and her allies would be vindicated in taking military action against Saddam Hussein’s former dictatorship.
Mr Bush said: “Our country made the right decision.”
He added: “The speeches I have given are backed by good intelligence.”
Last week, CIA Director George Tenet publicly apologised for the inclusion of the claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium in Africa in order to make nuclear weapons in Mr Bush’s speech.
The White House appears to have tired of the story and wants to move on. Ari Fleischer, a spokesman for the president said the Iraq intelligence furore was a “bunch of bull.”
“As far as the president’s concerned, he’s moved on. I think the bottom has been gotten to,” said Mr Fleischer.
He added: “There can be no doubt in anybody’s mind Iraq pursued nuclear weapons prior to the war.”
Mr Fleischer rejects any suggestion that Mr Bush misled the American people.
“That’s absolute, total nonsense. The president said something that was based on the information that was available to date. In hindsight, we have said that it should not have risen to the president’s level and that’s exactly what we have reported to the American people,” he said.
