Officials Say Bush Uranium Claim Accurate

AP | 7/13/03

[kattracks]

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON July 13 —

The Bush administration said Sunday the president's statement in the State of the Union address about Iraq's seeking uranium was accurate and is supported by other British and U.S. information.

Nevertheless, said Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, the statement should not have been in the Jan. 20 speech, in which Bush laid out reasons for military action against Iraq. "We have a higher standard for presidential speeches" than raw intelligence, she told "Fox News Sunday."

Rice said Bush's claim was a small component of his case against Saddam Hussein.

"It is ludicrous to suggest that the president of the United States went to war on the question of whether Saddam Hussein sought uranium from Africa," Rice said. "This was a part of a very broad case that the president laid out in the State of the Union and other places.

"But the statement that he made was indeed accurate. The British government did say that. Not only was the statement accurate, there were statements of this kind in the National Intelligence Estimate," a classified document compiled by U.S. agencies, she said.

In the speech, Bush said: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, echoing Rice in an appearance on ABC's "This Week," said the statement was "technically correct" because Bush noted the source of the claim was Britain.

U.S. intelligence agencies had raised questions previously about assertions of such activity by the Iraqi president. Rice said CIA Director George Tenet had removed from a Bush speech in Cincinnati three months earlier a more specific reference to Iraqi efforts to buy uranium for nuclear weapons. Underlying documents to support the British contention proved to have been forged.

"The British stand by their statement," Rice said. "They have told us that despite the fact that we had apparently some concerns about that report, that they had other sources, and that they stand by the statement."

Asked whether she or her colleagues in the administration had seen additional British evidence, Rice said: "The British have reasons, because of the arrangements that they made, apparently, in receiving those sources, that they cannot share them with us. We have every reason to believe that the British services are quite reliable."

After the controversy over the State of the Union comment followed Bush around Africa during his trip last week, Tenet assumed responsibility Friday for not insisting that the statement be removed. "These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president," Tenet said.

Rumsfeld said it's time to put the furor over Tenet to rest and called the CIA director "an enormously talented public servant."

[aristeides]

Sounds like the only problem with the State of the Union assertion was that the only evidentiary basis for it that could be made public was bogus. If that's the case, the media and the RATs are making a big mistake by making such an issue of it.

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[Peach]

An AP article that is fairly written and attempts to explain the misunderstanding the mainstream press has been having with this story.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Ping

[vbmoneyspender]

What's going on with this? Why didn't they come out with this before having Tenet come out and fall on his sword. I'm not a big fan of Tenet, but it seems that it would have made alot more sense to come out with this explanation first, which shows that Bush was correct in his January speech.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[Pan_Yans Wife]

They did... Rice addressed the press earlier in the day, and in the evening Tenet issued his statement. They covered their bases.

[jriemer]

The media is staring to have it both way in the event that Blair delivers "the goods" during his visit. Remember, British Parliament cleared his government (source of the SOTU information) of all possible wrong doing leading up to the Iraqi war.

The squeeze is on.

[Radix]

Bingo!

[vbmoneyspender]

Why have Tenet come out with that statement at all. Unless I am mistaken, Tenet said that it was his fault that the statement about Hussein attempting to get uranium from Africa was included in the January speech. Why apologize for something that is now turning out to be accurate?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

He is addressing the question that the media is putting forth. By addressing it right away, it cannot be said that he hasn't been forthcoming. This way, the media loses the chance to say, "What did Tenet know, and when did he know it?" If he accepts responsibility, as he should, they have difficulty trying to spin it.

[fml]

--Remember, British Parliament cleared his government (source of the SOTU information) of all possible wrong doing leading up to the Iraqi war--


That fact is just killing the liberals. They keep twisting that fact as well .

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I think Hillary spoke too soon, when she was in England. She basically congratulated parliament on their inquiry, and stated that it was really important that "the people" had the facts. Then, Blair was cleared. I suspect her motive is a full inquiry in the House or Senate, with Bush as the target. It isn't going to get that far, though.

[vbmoneyspender]

You've got me confused. I don't understand why someone would apologize for something when they've done nothing wrong.

[PhiKapMom]

Thanks for the ping! This article from AP no less is great news after several days of bad news! Looks like the Administration is fighting back!

[PhiKapMom]

Can you ask that this be put in breaking news since all the RAT articles about this are there?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The CIA vetted the speech, someone in the CIA let this quote through. Tenet didn't catch it, at the time. It isn't that it is a lie, it is the fact that the left is using it as their big gun.

In otherwords, if Tenet had known, he wouldn't have allowed those sixteen words in the SOTU speech, because now they are being used to harm the president's credibility. It is his loyalty to Bush that causes him to accept responsibility, not gross negligence on his part.

[vbmoneyspender]

but the 16 words that Tenet left in the speech are correct. Tenet was right and Bush was right and the media was wrong. Maybe the media should apologize, but not Tenet.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I think Tenet thought if he did make a statement when he did, that the focus would turn to him, not the president.