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I think the name below should be Flynt Leverett instead of Clint Leverett...

NBC's Andrea Mitchell

On Wednesday night's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Andrea Mitchell filed a story in which she turned to Bush administration critic and former National Security Council member Clint Leverett, "who quit in protest before the war," to contribute a soundbite charging that the Bush administration "had decided to fight back" against Joseph Wilson in response to his criticism of the Iraq invasion. Mitchell also, without challenge, relayed Wilson's contention that his trip to Niger discredited the possibility that Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger, as she merely passed on that he concluded "it wasn't true." Absent was the argument that Wilson's original report, which mentioned Iraq's attempt to expand trade with Niger, may have actually added credibility to President Bush's State of the Union assertion that "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," since Bush's statement said nothing of whether the efforts were successful. Additionally, the British government has continued to stand by its claims.

These arguments were outlined by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, as quoted in an article at CNN.com on July 13, 2003. While defending the British government's assertions that Iraq tried to obtain uranium from Niger, Straw "insisted [its dossier] was based on what British officials regarded as 'reliable intelligence' which had not been shared with the United States." Straw explained that "as CNN [has] reported, Ambassador Wilson's report also noted that in 1999 an Iraqi delegation sought the expansion of trade links with Niger -- and that former Niger government officials believed that this was in connection with the procurement of yellowcake." Straw concluded that "uranium is Niger's main export. In other words, this element of Ambassador Wilson's report supports the statement in the government's dossier." (For complete text, see http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/12/sprj.irq.uk.uranium.straw/index.html )

Below is a complete transcript of Andrea Mitchell's report, anchored by Brian Williams, from the Wednesday October 26 NBC Nightly News:

Brian Williams: "And while everyone waits for word on possible indictments here, a reminder tonight of what is at the root of this case: The Bush administration's prewar intelligence assessments. Iraq had weapons, they said, and they posed a threat to the U.S. NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell has more."

Andrea Mitchell: "In the beginning, it was a fight over weapons of mass destruction. Did Saddam Hussein have them? Were they an imminent threat? Administration hardliners voiced no doubt."

Dick Cheney, from Meet the Press, dated September 2002: "He is, in fact, actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear weapons."

Mitchell: "If so, should America go to war? The President sounded convinced."

George W. Bush, dated October 2002: "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

Mitchell: "He deployed his top diplomat to make the case to the U.N.-"

Colin Powell, dated February 2003: "Let me now turn to those deadly weapons programs and describe why they are real and present dangers to the region."

Mitchell: "-and, in the State of the Union speech, accused Iraq of trying to buy uranium from Africa for weapons fuel."

Bush, dated January 2003: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Mitchell: "But the CIA had checked that out a year earlier by sending a secret envoy. His name, Joseph Wilson. His conclusion, it wasn't true. So Wilson began challenging the crucial evidence the White House was using to justify the invasion. Clint Leveritt was working in the National Security Council until he quit in protest just before the war. He says the Bush team had decided to fight back."

Clint Leveritt: "It was imperative to discredit Wilson, to discredit this argument that the WMD case might not be solid."

Mitchell: "Then Wilson went public in the New York Times and on Meet the Press."

Joseph Wilson, Former Ambassador: "They were using the selective use of facts and intelligence to bolster a decision in a case that had already been made, a decision that had been made to go to war."

Mitchell: "Officials point out that Wilson was sometimes inflating his role, and at times mis-stating his findings. Sources say to undermine Wilson, Bush aides told reporters he had been sent to Africa through the influence of his wife, who worked at the CIA. That led to an investigation into whether they broke the law, either through leaks or in their testimony. So the debate over Saddam's weapons has turned into a legal case and the biggest political crisis of the Bush presidency. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, New York."

http://newsbusters.org/node/2513

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Leverett told the Washington Post last week, "[Richard] Clarke's critique of administration decision-making and how it did not balance the imperative of finishing the job against al Qaeda versus what they wanted to do in Iraq is absolutely on the money."

He went on to say "We took the people out who could have caught them. But even if we get bin Laden or Zawahiri now, it is two years too late. Al Qaeda is a very different organization now. It has had time to adapt. The administration should have finished this job."

* Flynt Leverett, from February 2002 to March 2003 Leverett was Senior Director for Middle East Affairs on President Bush's National Security Council He is a former CIA analyst and Middle East specialist. He is now a visiting fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East studies at the Brookings Institution.

http://www.brookings.edu/rios/data/sources/portrait/f9b49ac42e16ff3f41df9f080a1415cb.jpg

Flynt Leverett is a great believer in appeasement of the Saudis, which he thinks is necessary. It is contained in a sentence toward the end of his Op/Ed piece: In order to win over Prince Turki to join the fight against terrorism, he says, “the United States would need to be prepared for a serious conversation about modifying its policies toward regional security, stability and peacekeeping in Iraq and the Arab-Israeli peace process to recognize Saudi interests and initiatives -- a conversation that Prince Turki could facilitate."

"The 60-year partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia was not, as President Bush alluded (sic) in a 2003 speech, a mistake. It was, and remains, an indispensable element in America's quest for a mroe stable regional and international order. The administration should take advantage of Prince Turki's presence in Washington to give that partnership the attention it deserves."

About the Saban Center

In May 2002, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy was launched with a special address by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to a select audience of policymakers in Washington, D.C. With the addition of the Saban Center, the Brookings Institution has rapidly become one of the most dynamic centers for research and analysis of U.S. policy in the Middle East. It was founded with the help of prominent Los Angeles businessman Haim Saban, who made a generous initial grant and pledged additional funds to endow the Center.

Haim Saban, a worldwide pioneer and leader in the entertainment industry, is the Chief Executive Officer of Saban Capital Group, Inc.

In 1975, Mr. Saban relocated to France and established an independent record company that soon catapulted to the top of the European labels industry, selling more than 18 million records over a period of eight years.

Saban moved to Los Angeles in 1983, where he launched a chain of recording studios that rapidly became the top supplier of music for television.

Saban’s foray into television began in 1988, when he formed Saban Entertainment, an international television, production, distribution and merchandising company. The company produced several major hits, including The X-Men and numerous other shows and products developed around Marvel Comics characters. Perhaps most notably, under Saban’s guidance the organization created the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers—a global phenomenon that to this day are the No. 1 selling boy’s toys in the United States.