Bush Adviser Says Iraq Weapons Data `Wrong,' Not Manipulated
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration had no intention of misleading the public even though pre-war intelligence about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction was ``wrong,'' Stephen Hadley, National Security Advisor, told the Cable News Network.
``This was a collective intelligence judgment. It was relied on by the prior administration and other world leaders, the Congress, the president of the United States,'' Hadley said. ``Turns out we were wrong.''
Hadley said that allegations that the president tried to manipulate the information to build a case for war ``are flat wrong.'' The Senate Intelligence Committee and a separate commission on the intelligence capabilities of the U.S. concluded ``there was no manipulation of intelligence,'' Hadley said.
The administration is facing renewed questions from lawmakers about the war. Hadley was deputy national security adviser as the U.S. prepared for Iraq invasion.
Former North Carolina Senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards wrote in a Washington Post editorial column today that his vote in favor of an October 2002 joint resolution authorizing the use of U.S. armed forces against Iraq in was based on '``inaccurate'' intelligence. ``Had I known that at the time, I would have never voted for this war,'' Edwards wrote.
Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, also blamed faulty intelligence for his vote. ``I would have never voted yes if I knew what I know today,'' he said on Fox News Sunday.
``I think the Democrats always have to stand up and tell the truth,'' said Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. ``And that's what we're doing. The truth is that the president misled America when he sent us to war.''
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