How Bush cooked the intelligence

[markinore]

Some people have tried to give Bush the benefit of the doubt regarding the "wrong" intelligence about Iraq and WMD. They should read the following (very lengthy) article from the October 3 New York Times:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/international/middleeast/03tube.html?oref=login

 

To summarize, when Iraq purchased its now famous aluminum tubes, a single CIA analyst believed they were going to be used in a centrifuge for the purposing of enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. That view was rebutted by multiple other experts who demonstrated that the tubes in question were 1) the wrong dimensions for such a centrifuge, 2) the right dimensions for conventional arms, and 3) anodized, making them prone to damage when used in a uranium-enriching centrifuge. Despite the preponderance of evidence that the tubes were not a sign of a nuclear weapons program, that evidence was suppressed by the administration. Thus, when Bush said in the debate, "My opponent saw the same intelligence I did," he is doubly duplicitous.

 

This is an excellent example that shows Bush was NOT misled by the intelligence community. Rather, he and his henchmen selected what information to hype to justify what they were going to do anyway.