Bush on missing Iraqi WMDs

[Adam D]

Bush vows to 'reveal the truth' on Iraqi weapons
Democrats challenge White House on claims
Thursday, June 5, 2003 Posted: 11:02 AM EDT (1502 GMT)



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Facing questions about his administration's pre-war assertions about the threat posed by Iraq, President Bush vowed Thursday to "reveal the truth" about what he has described as former leader Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Speaking to troops in Qatar as he headed home from a Middle East peace summit, Bush suggested it shouldn't be surprising that no such weapons have been found, despite the fall of Saddam's regime and the presence of coalition forces in that country for more than two months.

"This is a man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder," Bush said. "He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me he's got a big country in which to hide them. We're on the look. We'll reveal the truth."

The president pointed to the recent discovery of what he described as two "mobile biological weapons facilities" as evidence of Saddam's interest in and Iraq's capability of producing biological weapons.

But on Capitol Hill, Democrats are growing increasing vocal in challenging the Bush administration to better explain its claims. Critics in Europe are also raising questions, forcing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to defend his support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The Bush administration cited those weapons as the key reason for invading Iraq and removing Saddam -- who remains unaccounted for -- from power.

"Like millions of Americans, I'm wondering where the hell the weapons of mass destruction are," Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Pennsylvania, said Wednesday at a House International Relations Committee hearing.

Some Democrats, including several who are seeking their party's 2004 presidential nomination, question whether the administration slanted or manipulated intelligence data to make the case for war with Iraq. Others say the intelligence data may have been flawed, a claim rejected last week by CIA Director George Tenet.

At the same House hearing Wednesday, one Bush administration official rejected suggestions that intelligence data on Iraq was manipulated.

"I personally never asked anybody in the intelligence community to change a single thing that they presented, and I am not aware of any other official in this administration who did that," John Bolton, undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told lawmakers.

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is expected to brief the U.N. Security Council on his latest report Thursday. In that report, the inspectors say they've found no evidence of the banned weapons and say they've made "little progress" in clearing up questions concerning their possible development or use.

At the Pentagon, one top official disputed reports that some analysts there had sought out evidence to justify a war with Iraq.

"This suggestion that we said to them, 'This is what we're looking for, go find it,' is precisely the inaccuracy that we are here to rebut," said Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy.

On Capitol Hill, the Senate Intelligence Committee is to review classified background documents related to the administration's pre-war statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of that committee, has not, however, scheduled a hearing about the matter, even though some lawmakers, mostly Democrats, are calling for such a move. Roberts, R-Kansas, said he wants to give the weapons hunt in Iraq more time.

But some Democrats want more answers now.

"What evidence did this administration have to claim that Iraq had WMD," asked Rep. Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, outspoken critic of the war -- and a presidential contender. "What evidence did this administration have for its repeated claims that Iraq was a threat to this nation ... What evidence did this administration have to justify war?"

Kucinich announced Wednesday he would introduce a resolution Thursday demanding the White House detail its claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

[Adam D]

I like this picture from the story:

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/ALLPOLITIC...emical.war.jpg