The White House, President George W. Bush Click to print this document

For Immediate Release
November 15, 2005

Setting the Record Straight: The New York Times Editorial on Pre-War Intelligence

     Fact sheet In Focus: Iraq
     Fact sheet Setting the Record Straight

The New York Times Editorial Says Foreign Intelligence Services Did Not Support American Intelligence. "Foreign intelligence services did not have full access to American intelligence. But some had dissenting opinions that were ignored or not shown to top American officials." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But Even Foreign Governments That Opposed The Removal Of Saddam Hussein Judged That Iraq Had Weapons Of Mass Destruction (WMD).

The New York Times Editorial Implies That Congress Was Presented With Incomplete And Manipulated Intelligence. "Congress had nothing close to the president's access to intelligence. The National Intelligence Estimate presented to Congress a few days before the vote on war was sanitized to remove dissent and make conjecture seem like fact." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But The Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) Was Judged Not To Have Different Intelligence Than The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) Provided To Congress, Which Represented The Collective Opinion Of The Intelligence Community.

The New York Times Editorial Implies That UN Sanctions Were Preventing Saddam Hussein From Pursuing WMD. "It's hard to imagine what Mr. Bush means when he says everyone reached the same conclusion. There was indeed a widespread belief that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons. But Mr. Clinton looked at the data and concluded that inspections and pressure were working a view we now know was accurate." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But Former President Bill Clinton Warned After 9/11 That The United States Could Not Allow Saddam Hussein To Continue Defying Weapons Inspectors.

The New York Times Editorial Says There Was Little Evidence Suggesting Iraq Was Pursuing A Nuclear Weapon. "The administration had little company in saying that Iraq was actively trying to build a nuclear weapon. The evidence for this claim was a dubious report about an attempt in 1999 to buy uranium from Niger, later shown to be false, and the infamous aluminum tubes story. That was dismissed at the time by analysts with real expertise." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But The Weapons Inspectors Concluded That Saddam Hussein Sought A Nuclear Capability.

The New York Times Editorial Says The Claim That Iraq And Al Qaeda Were In League Was "Absurd" And Implies That The President Connected Saddam Hussein To The 9/11 Attacks. "The Bush administration was also alone in making the absurd claim that Iraq was in league with Al Qaeda and somehow connected to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That was based on two false tales. One was the supposed trip to Prague by Mohamed Atta, a report that was disputed before the war and came from an unreliable drunk. The other was that Iraq trained Qaeda members in the use of chemical and biological weapons. Before the war, the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that this was a deliberate fabrication by an informer." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But The President Never Connected Iraq To The 9/11 Attacks While Other Politicians And Independent Commissions Judged That There Were Contacts Between Iraq, Al-Qaeda And Other Terrorist Groups.

The New York Times Editorial Implies That There Was Political Pressure To Change Intelligence. "Richard Kerr, a former deputy director of central intelligence, said in 2003 that there was 'significant pressure on the intelligence community to find evidence that supported a connection' between Iraq and Al Qaeda. The C.I.A. ombudsman told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the administration's 'hammering' on Iraq intelligence was harder than he had seen in his 32 years at the agency." (Editorial, "Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials," The New York Times, 11/15/05)

But Congressional And Independent Committees Have Repeatedly Found No Political Pressure To Change Intelligence.

 


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