War with Iran near certainty ... you make the call

Don

NNN0LHI (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-14-03 08:20 AM
Original message
The CIA doubted the Niger story because Iraq already HAS uranium ore


It was a set-up by someone to discredit the US. And Chimpy was stupid enough to fall for it. Russia maybe? Don

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usintel0711,0,5728369.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

CIA Doubted Uranium Report


Washington -- The CIA "from day one" was highly skeptical of reports that Iraq had been shopping for uranium ore in Africa, and the State Department also was highly suspicious, according to intelligence officials.

A key reason for the CIA's skepticism, according to a senior intelligence officer, was, "What do they need this for? They've got tons of it already in Iraq."

Yet in an October National Intelligence Estimate the CIA understated its suspicions while the State Department, in a lengthy dissent in back of the 80-page report, concluded that the claims were probably bogus, the intelligence officials said. It was that document the White House says it relied on for a passage in President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in January. The White House conceded this week that the document was based on forgeries.

The National Intelligence Estimate, a special report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that reflected a consensus of the intelligence community, repeated a claim published by the British government in the previous month that Niger had "planned to send" uranium ore to Iraq. The estimate also mentioned that there were other bits of intelligence suggesting that Iraq had been shopping for the ore in two other African countries.


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