Powell: Critics of Bush reaching
By Lawrence McQuillan and John Diamond, USA TODAY
PRETORIA — Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Bush administration Thursday against intensifying criticism of the use of bogus intelligence to help make the case for war on Iraq. But he was pressed to explain how the tainted evidence made it into President Bush's State of the Union address.
At a news conference intended to highlight U.S. initiatives in Africa, Powell gave the lengthiest administration defense since the White House acknowledged Monday that a key allegation against Iraq in the president's speech on Jan. 28 was false.
"There was no effort or attempt on the part of the president or anyone else in the administration to mislead or to deceive the American people," Powell said. He was referring to Bush's charge that Iraq was trying to buy uranium for nuclear weapons in Africa, an allegation based on documents the White House now concedes were not authentic.
Powell sought to explain how the allegation, based on a British report, got into the speech after the CIA had questioned it and why, a week later, the secretary dropped it from his own presentation to the United Nations Security Council.
"There was sufficient evidence floating around at the time that such a statement was not totally outrageous," Powell said. "Subsequently, when we looked at it more thoroughly ... we did not believe that it was appropriate to use that example any more."
Powell's comments came as Democrats sharpened their criticism of Bush's misstep. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean called for the resignation of any administration official who knowingly passed on false information. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who like Dean is a Democratic presidential candidate, said a thorough investigation would be needed "to re-establish the credibility of our own government."
In Britain, the BBC quoted anonymous senior government officials as saying they no longer expected to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Blair still believes the weapons will be found.
Powell refused to speculate on what anonymous sources in Britain were saying and angrily dismissed the administration's critics as reaching "overdrawn, overblown, overwrought" conclusions.
Powell followed an emerging White House strategy of suggesting that the CIA, which was shown Iraq-related portions of Bush's draft speech, could have objected to the inclusion of the uranium charge. A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
The speech controversy comes as the White House is also facing criticism of its attempts to stabilize postwar Iraq. President Bush told reporters Thursday that the United States has "a security issue" in Iraq, but insisted troops there would "remain tough." His remarks came as the Pentagon reported that two U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks.
Contributing: McQuillan reported from South Africa, Diamond from Washington, D.C.
URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-07-10-powell-usat_x.htm |
