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Did you read where I asserted that I'm convinced that Saddddammmnn DID SEARCH FOR, TRY TO ACQUIRE etc. uranium....Also, I asserted that the administration may well have intel that they dare not disclose at present regarding such matters.

I suspect CAT feels the same way, though I haven't asked her.

You apparently haven't read the article this thread is based on.

In the article, Ms. Crawford suggests that "faulty intelligence" caused President Bush to suggest Saddam was trying to buy uranium, and wonders if that means that President Bush "is either incompetent or is simply not paying attention?"

The other option Ms. Crawford suggests is that President Bush has "been conned by Tenet" - if not, "what is the alternative?"

You can ask "Cat" if you want to, but I think all you need to do is read what she's written - she apparently thinks that the statement about Saddam trying to buy uranium was mistaken.

I don'nt expect her to win the Pulitzer Prize in the next week but I still respect her opinions, writing and values as those of a wonderful sister conservative.

I agree that Ms. Crawford shows great potential as a writer. I'm not always sure about her conservative values however, unless she's one of those who is so far to the right that she now agrees with the left.

PERHAPS

I was overly generous with CAT but I don't think so.

I considered your cited parts just her conjectures and ponderings of possibilities rather than her convictions. I felt the piece was primarily designed to get some discussion going to help refine her own perspective as she worked on writing about the topic. I see such a process healthy and largely constructive and essentially harmless.

OK, CAT--how far off base am I?

she apparently thinks that the statement about Saddam trying to buy uranium was mistaken.

In fairness, I think it should be pointed out that, if she believed the statement was mistaken, the White House shared her view on that question:

"Knowing all that we know now, the reference to Iraq's attempt to acquire uranium from Africa should not have been included in the State of the Union speech," a senior Bush administration official said last night in a statement authorized by the White House.

Washington Post, July 8, 2003