Frim a Time report: "... Just how aware was Bush of the accuracy of what
he was about to say? Deep in his 5,400-word speech was a single sentence
that had already been the subject of considerable internal debate for
nearly a year. It was a line that had launched a dozen memos, several
diplomatic tugs of war and some mysterious, last-minute pencil editing.
The line—"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein
recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"—wasn't
the Bush team's strongest evidence for the case that Saddam wanted
nuclear weapons. It was just the most controversial, since most
government experts familiar with the statement believed it to be
unsupportable
. ..
But if it was good enough for bush, it wasn't good enough for others.
Colin Powell omitted any reference to the uranium when he briefed the
U.N. Security Council just eight days later; last week he told reporters
that the allegation had not stood "the test of time." Nor did Tenet
mention the allegation when he testified before the Senate panel on Feb.
11. "If we were trying to peddle that theory, it would have been in our
white paper," an intelligence official told TIME. "It would have been in
lots of places where it wasn't. A sentence made it into the President's
speech, and it shouldn't have."."
http://tinyurl.com/guk5
At the very least, the President was fully aware that hs remarks were
questioned by many experts. At the very least, a truthful man would have
either not said the words, or would have qualified his assertions.
I guess my conclusion is that Colin Powell knew enough not to repeat the
story to the UN just 8 days later, what xhanged in those 8 days?
That a Republican Senate would issue a report protecting a Republican
President is no great surprise to me Buck. Politicians do that,
Therefore I stand by my position: GWs team knew enough to know that
those 16 words should not be there. They'd been warned.
Also, lets place it in the contect we now know about this
administration. They have a habit half truths, bad decisions, lack of
reality, and aggressive moves.
There is just no convincing evidence that GWs team were innocent dupes
in this matter.
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