www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22552-2004Apr18_4.html
Next > With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated The State Department intelligence bureau filed an 11-page annex outlining its objections and disagreements with the NIE, particularly on nuclear weapons, saying the evidence did not add up to "a compelling case" that Iraq has "an integrated and comprehensive approach to acquire nuclear weapons."
The agency's October national estimate that had concluded that Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons had been out for more than two months; the congressional resolutions supporting war had passed by nearly 3 to 1; and the UN Security Council, where a weapons inspection resolution had passed 15 to 0, was actively engaged in inspections inside Iraq. Even Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D Wolfowitz had commented recently on the inconclusive nature of judgments about Hussein's WMD Two days later, Tenet and McLaughlin went to the Oval Office. The meeting was for presenting "The Case" on WMD as it might be presented to a jury with Top Secret security clearances. In addition to the president, Cheney, Rice and White House Chief of Staff Andrew H Card Jr. With some fanfare, McLaughlin stepped up to brief with a series of flip charts. This was the rough cut, he indicated, still highly classified and not cleared for public release. The CIA wanted to reserve on what would be revealed to protect sources and detection methods if there was no military conflict. When McLaughlin concluded, there was a look on the president's face of, What's this? "I don't think this is quite -- it's not something that Joe Public would understand or would gain a lot of confidence from." In terms of marketing, the examples didn't work, the charts didn't work, the photos were not gripping, the intercepts were less than compelling. "I've been told all this intelligence about having WMD and this is the best we've got?" From the end of one of the couches in the Oval Office, Tenet rose up, threw him arms in the air. Tenet, a basketball fan who attended as many home games of his alma mater Georgetown University as possible, leaned forward and threw his arms up again. From McLaughlin's presentation, Card was worried that there might be no "there there," but Tenet's double reassurance on the slam dunk was memorable and comforting. Cheney could think of no reason to question Tenet's assertion. He was, after all, the head of the CIA and would know the most. The president later recalled that McLaughlin's presentation "wouldn't have stood the test of time." But, said Bush, Tenet's reassurance -- "That was very important." "Let's get some people who've actually put together a case for a jury." The president told Tenet several times, "Make sure no one stretches to make our case."
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