Posted on 12/17/2005 6:14:13 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
THE US administration was never told of doubts about the secret intelligence used to justify war with Iraq, former secretary of state Colin Powell told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday night.
Mr Powell, who argued the case for military action against Saddam Hussein in the UN in 2003, told BBC News 24 television he was "deeply disappointed in what the intelligence community had presented to me and to the rest of us."
"What really upset me more than anything else was that there were people in the intelligence community that had doubts about some of this sourcing, but those doubts never surfaced to us," he said.
Mr Powell's comments follow US President George W. Bush's acceptance earlier this week of responsibility for going to war on intelligence, much of which "turned out to be wrong".
US involvement in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion has led to the loss of 2,140 of its troops and badly hit the Republican president's popularity.
The opposition Democrats have increased calls for a timetable for a military withdrawal.
But ahead of this week's parliamentary elections in Iraq, President Bush insisted he was still right to order the invasion and argued a hurried withdrawal would be "a recipe for disaster".
The British government, Washington's key allies in the invasion, has similarly refused to give a withdrawal date for its 8,000 or so troops in Iraq's four southern states, although has said it could happen next year.
For his part, Mr Powell considered the US military could not be deployed in Iraq at its current strength for years to come, raising the possibility of withdrawal from next year.
But he told the BBC that "essentially just to walk away, to say that we're taking all of our troops out as fast as we can, would be a tragic mistake". A US presence would be required in Iraq for "years", he added.
"We've invested a great deal in this country, and the Iraqi people deserve democracy and the freedom that they were promised when we got rid of Saddam Hussein and we have to stay with them... until they decide that they can get it now on their own, they don't need us any longer," he added.
"And even then, I suspect, there will be a continuing relationship and presence of some significance for some years to come."
In the interview, Mr Powell confirmed that White House "hawks" US Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had bypassed him and other colleagues on occasions.
Mr Powell's former chief-of-staff Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson made the damning allegations last month, accusing Cheney and Rumsfeld of running a "cabal" and hijacking US military and foreign policy.
Discussions with Rumsfeld about dealing with the aftermath of the Iraq invasion were "not pleasant", Mr Powell admitted in the interview.
That is all the media plays up. And it is causing unbearable stupidity.
Yep, but what do you expect from a nation largely educated by members of the NEA?
What took him so long to make that point?
WMD's were only one of the reasons we went to war, and the fact that we didn't FIND them doesn't mean they didn't exist.
The stupid UN inspectors gave them all the time in the world to hide them.........or give them to Syria.......
Let me try and understand....
Valerie Plame a WMD analyst at the CIA. The WH did not know of CIA WMD concerns, something that should have come from her desk....
Is there a problem here?
Reids the same stuff as Daschele-just piled higher.
Thanks for the ping. It's illogical to believe there were no WMD in Iraq, IMO. And it's pointless for Powell to lament about not being told of that possibility at this juncture. In fact, it's irritating.
As others have pointed out, Saddam was allowed time to move or hide them. And they are likely dispersed.
The question I'd like to see Powell or any admin official ask publically is "who" had the interest in allowing Saddam to do just that. And why.
It would seem he is suffereing under the delusion that they reported to him? What ever gave him that idea?
Did he in turn always report to Rumsfeld when he wanted to take some action?
Pres. Bush is just basically appologizing for the CIA is my guess. Do you think he believes anything that is coming out of those fool's mouths? I sure don't.
Well I'd say that eliminates the "Bush Lied" crap once and 4 all.
This is all blather from the Administration, caving into the media.
ALL the immediately prior Presdients of the U.S. and their advisors were wrong. ALL of the major intelligence services were wrong. ALL of Sadam's neighbors were wrong. ALL of the informants among Iraqi refugees were wrong. Sadam HIMSELF was wrong. There were NO weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
THIS is what the Dems, the media and NOW - the Administration would have us believe.
Baloney!!
The weapons WERE there and now they are gone. WHERE?? Where woould Mussolini have hid an atom bomb if the U.S. occupied Italy in WW2?? Where would the NAZIs have hidden an atom bomb in WW2 if the U.S. occupied Germany in WW2??
We need look no further than the neighboring Baathist state - the same state which is feeding insurgents into Iraq for WHERE the WMD are. Syria.
Delenda est Syria. And the Administration should grow some testacles.
Whoa!
I don't believe this for a second. If there was a quote to confirm this, they would have published it in the article.
What took him so long?
Speaking of Tom Daschle, he is deeply saddened.
Total left wingnut - has the weight of the world on her shoulders. I feel soooo sad for her /sarcasm
That's a good question...and another one is why to the foreign press?....my opinion Powell has not changed...
How unfair, jsut when the dems weere really getting wound up to tar and feather our president, Powell comes out wiht this. Actually I thought it pretty funny when those screaming about being lied to had to admit they never actually read the intelligence reports, jsut a summary. this is kind of the whipped cream on top of the frosting. Talk about having their Christmas spoiled.
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