Well, no, they didn't. Both the US and UK intelligence services said Saddam was not a threat and didn't have anything close to a nuke, but that wasn't good enough for Bush. This is old news yet you still fail to acknowledge it because otherwise it makes Bush look like he cooked up the war - which he did.
No, that's not quite right, either. First, hopefully we all accept that a nuke wasn't the only threat. Second, most of the US intel. agreed that the aluminum tubes were purchased for a nuclear weapons program. Not all agreed, of course... and in one of those twists of history (for better or worse), the Department of Energy disagreed--but when they met to discuss the issue with other agencies and prepare the NIE, their "main man" was unavailable to make the meeting, leaving a lesser-qualified person to make their points. At any rate, the intelligence community were in agreement on chemical and bio weapons, and the DoE disagreed regarding the intended purpose for the aluminum tubes. But even then, the DoE still believed Iraq had an active nuclear program.
Moreover, Congress in October 2002 were given the same information the President had.
I am not a huge Bush fan, but let's not rewrite history, either.
|