Friday, August 23, 2002
Bush blames media for Iraq invasion 'frenzy'
Bush blames media for Iraq invasion 'frenzy'
By James Gerstenzang
Crawford, Texas
August 23 2002
With allies uneasy about joining a US-led military operation against Iraq, President George Bush has promised to consult other nations and Congress before acting and complained about the "intense speculation" that a potential attack has provoked.
"It's kind of a churning," Mr Bush said, as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at his side, moved towards the microphone and interjected: "Frenzy."
The two spoke at Mr Bush's ranch at the end of a morning meeting on Wednesday that brought most of the administration's top security officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, to central Texas to focus on long-term military issues.
The President said Iraq was not discussed in the meeting.
Almost scoffing at the media attention devoted to Iraq, Mr Bush responded to a reporter's question by calling Iraq "the particular country that you seem to be riveted on".
By James Gerstenzang
Crawford, Texas
August 23 2002
With allies uneasy about joining a US-led military operation against Iraq, President George Bush has promised to consult other nations and Congress before acting and complained about the "intense speculation" that a potential attack has provoked.
"It's kind of a churning," Mr Bush said, as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at his side, moved towards the microphone and interjected: "Frenzy."
The two spoke at Mr Bush's ranch at the end of a morning meeting on Wednesday that brought most of the administration's top security officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, to central Texas to focus on long-term military issues.
The President said Iraq was not discussed in the meeting.
Almost scoffing at the media attention devoted to Iraq, Mr Bush responded to a reporter's question by calling Iraq "the particular country that you seem to be riveted on".
Thursday, August 15, 2002
CIA's evidence of Iraqi threat lacks 'smoking gun'
CIA's evidence of Iraqi threat lacks 'smoking gun'
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
8/15/2002
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence cannot say conclusively that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, an information gap that is complicating White House efforts to build support for an attack on Saddam's Iraqi regime.
The CIA has advised top administration officials to assume that Iraq has some weapons of mass destruction. But the agency has not given President Bush a "smoking gun," according to U.S. intelligence and administration officials.
The difficulty that lack of proof is causing the administration was evident in comments Thursday by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Rice told the BBC that Washington believes it has a "moral case" for removing Saddam, but she was careful not to say that Iraq currently possesses chemical, biological or nuclear arms.
Instead, Rice spoke of the danger Saddam would pose, "if he gets weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them."
Administration officials say this sense of uncertainty is influencing Bush's preparations for a major effort to sell his Iraq policy this fall.
A combination of factors — Saddam's record of aggression, Iraq's support of terrorism, its hostility toward the United States and its interest in developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons — forms the major justification for ousting Saddam, U.S. officials say.
But without clear proof of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, administration officials worry whether the fear of a future Iraqi threat will be enough to win broad support for a military strike.
The most recent unclassified CIA report on the subject goes no further than saying it is "likely" that Iraq has used the four years since United Nations inspectors left the country to rebuild chemical and biological weapons programs.
The greatest fear in Washington is that Iraq will develop a nuclear weapon, but the CIA says that is years away unless Iraq manages to buy black market fissile material.
"Baghdad has had the capability to reinitiate its (chemical weapons) programs within a few weeks to months," the CIA reported. "Without an inspection monitoring program, however, it is difficult to determine the current status of these programs."
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
8/15/2002
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence cannot say conclusively that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, an information gap that is complicating White House efforts to build support for an attack on Saddam's Iraqi regime.
The CIA has advised top administration officials to assume that Iraq has some weapons of mass destruction. But the agency has not given President Bush a "smoking gun," according to U.S. intelligence and administration officials.
The difficulty that lack of proof is causing the administration was evident in comments Thursday by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Rice told the BBC that Washington believes it has a "moral case" for removing Saddam, but she was careful not to say that Iraq currently possesses chemical, biological or nuclear arms.
Instead, Rice spoke of the danger Saddam would pose, "if he gets weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them."
Administration officials say this sense of uncertainty is influencing Bush's preparations for a major effort to sell his Iraq policy this fall.
A combination of factors — Saddam's record of aggression, Iraq's support of terrorism, its hostility toward the United States and its interest in developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons — forms the major justification for ousting Saddam, U.S. officials say.
But without clear proof of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, administration officials worry whether the fear of a future Iraqi threat will be enough to win broad support for a military strike.
The most recent unclassified CIA report on the subject goes no further than saying it is "likely" that Iraq has used the four years since United Nations inspectors left the country to rebuild chemical and biological weapons programs.
The greatest fear in Washington is that Iraq will develop a nuclear weapon, but the CIA says that is years away unless Iraq manages to buy black market fissile material.
"Baghdad has had the capability to reinitiate its (chemical weapons) programs within a few weeks to months," the CIA reported. "Without an inspection monitoring program, however, it is difficult to determine the current status of these programs."
All articles in this archive are used under "fair use" as they are important to the national discussion of whether or not the people of this country are being deceived by their government. These articles are used as evidence in that discussion.
