White House Calls Iraq-Africa Uranium Controversy Overblown
VOA News
13 Jul 2003, 21:03 UTC
The White House says the controversy over President's Bush statement that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger to build a nuclear bomb is overblown.
U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told CNN television Sunday the United States did not go to war because Saddam Hussein may have been trying to buy uranium from Africa.
She said U.S. troops fought to drive out who she called a bloody tyrant who defied the international community for 12 years.
Ms. Rice said it is unfortunate ths statement remained in Mr. Bush's State of the Union speech in January, but said it does not change the administration's belief that Iraq wanted to develop nuclear program.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on NBC Mr. Bush was technically correct because his statement cited British intelligence. He said Britain still stands behind its information. But he said it should not have been left in the State of the Union speech.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, is calling for an investigation into all the intelligence the White House used in deciding to go to war in Iraq.
Mr. Levin told CNN the probe should look at whether the White House pressured the Central Intelligence Agency to cast aside doubts about questionable information on Iraq.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said people may now doubt the administration if it has information about North Korea or Iran.
CIA Director George Tenet has taken responsibility for the Iraq-Africa statement being in the president's speech.
Sunday's Washington Post reported that Mr. Tenet persuaded the White House to cut the reference out of a separate Bush speech in October because he believed it came from forged documents.
But the information still found its way back into January's State of the Union address.
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