On Iran, Bush faces questions of what he knew when

From Reuters, 12/5/07:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN0454599720071205?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

On Iran, Bush faces questions of what he knew when

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

President George W. Bush faced questions on Tuesday about whether he

knew of intelligence that Iran had ended its nuclear arms program when

he warned in October that Tehran could trigger World War Three.

"Can't you be accused of hyping this threat?" Bush was asked at a news

conference a day after his administration released a new National

Intelligence Estimate concluding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons

program in 2003.

"I was made aware of the NIE last week," Bush replied.

But it was his next remark that drew attention from Democrats, the

news media and intelligence experts:

"In August, I think it was (U.S. intelligence chief) Mike McConnell

came in and said, 'We have some new information.' He didn't tell me

what the information was."

Increasingly strident U.S. rhetoric over Iran's nuclear program

reached a peak on October 17 when Bush warned that a nuclear-armed

Iran could lead to World War Three.

A day later, Vice President Dick Cheney announced his own warning of

"serious consequences" for Iran if it refused to abandon its nuclear

activities.

The comments stirred fears of a possible U.S. military confrontation

with Iran and helped send world oil prices soaring toward the $100 a

barrel mark.

On Tuesday, some former intelligence officers said Bush and other top

White House officials were probably briefed about the intelligence

findings long before the NIE was published.

"I can't imagine that McConnell ... would tell the president about

this and not tell him what the information actually said," remarked

Flynt Leverett, a former member of Bush's National Security Council.

"I think they certainly played fast and loose with the facts," he said

in an interview with CNN.

An NIE is intended to convey the consensus view of the 16 U.S.

intelligence agencies on a topic of strategic concern to the United

States.

But former officials said the documents contain little new

information.

"The president and his senior national security people get daily

briefings, and the topics of those briefings are selected with an eye

toward what is considered to be of most interest to current policy

questions," said former senior intelligence analyst Paul Pillar.

Meanwhile, Democrats pounced on Bush with accusations that he had

deliberately misrepresented the threat posed by Iran, just as they

have said he exaggerated the threat posed by prewar Iraq.

"What's shocking today is that apparently he knew about this estimate

a month or more before he made those statements," said U.S. Sen. Jack

Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat.

"I don't think that shows a responsible use of intelligence."

U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, a Democratic presidential hopeful

and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Bush had

further undermined the United States' credibility around the world.

"The president's actions are doubly dangerous because they undercut

the cooperation we need from other countries for dealing with the real

problems Iran continues to pose," he said in a statement.

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Poor li'l asshole. Waddya suppose Georgie's on...coke? shnapps?

anti-freeze? All of the above plus?

Harry