To: Neocon who wrote (148226 ) 10/19/2004 6:02:29 PM From: Michael Watkins Read Replies (1) | Respond to In the very article you use, it says that the Department of Energy, though dissenting on the tubes, agreed that there was a nuclear program. Thus, the tubes were not as important as you make out. the article does not state that the Energy Department held the view that Iraq was reconstituting a weapons program. No source from DOE is quoted as stating that.Last week, when asked about the tubes, administration officials said they relied on repeated assurances by George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, that the tubes were in fact for centrifuges. They also noted that the intelligence community, including the Energy Department, largely agreed that Mr. Hussein had revived his nuclear program. Meanwhile, at the Energy Department, scientists were startled to find senior White House officials embracing a view of the tubes they considered thoroughly discredited. 'I was really shocked in 2002 when I saw it was still there,' Dr. Wood, the Oak Ridge adviser, said of the centrifuge claim. 'I thought it had been put to bed.' nytimes.com
