What Bush Was Told About Iraq

The National Journal article "What Bush Was Told About Iraq" discusses the one-page summaries of the National Intelligence Estimate which were given to President Bush in October 2002 and January 2003. "The disclosure that Bush was informed of the DOE and State dissents is the first evidence that the president himself knew of the sharp debate within the government over the aluminum tubes during the time that he, Cheney, and other members of the Cabinet were citing the tubes as clear evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program. Neither the president nor the vice president told the public about the disagreement among the agencies." [National Journal]

More information on the National Intelligence Estimate, and redacted versions of the report, are available at the National Security Archive [nsarchive.org]; the Senate Intelligence Committee's Report on prewar intelligence regarding Iraq, also discussed in the article, is available at the Committee's site. [Senate.gov]

In a related story, a new Zogby poll of American troops currently serving in Iraq found that 85% believe that the U.S. mission is mainly "to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks." Seventy-seven per cent of troops surveyed said they also believe the main or a major reason for the war was "to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq." Surprisingly, 93% said that removing weapons of mass destruction was not a reason for U.S. troops being there. [Zogby International]