Responding to Kennedy on Iraq V: "Niger"

5. Niger

Kenndy says:

In spite of that, we find out, of course now, that the president gave assurances to the American people that Saddam Hussein was searching for nuclear materials in Africa, even though at the very time he was making that statement, the Central Intelligence Agency knew that to be false

But the source for claiming that Iraq was not looking for nuclear material in Niger is Joe Wilson, about whom the Washington Post wrote in July 2004:

Wilson's assertions -- both about what he found in Niger and what the Bush administration did with the information -- were undermined yesterday in a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report.

The panel found that Wilson's report, rather than debunking intelligence about purported uranium sales to Iraq, as he has said, bolstered the case for most intelligence analysts. And contrary to Wilson's assertions and even the government's previous statements, the CIA did not tell the White House it had qualms about the reliability of the Africa intelligence that made its way into 16 fateful words in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address.

Bottom line, there is plenty of room for debate and finally clearing the air on what was thought, known, and said prior to invading Iraq. But for certain Democrats to come out and make claims that are either demonstrably false or questionable belies a a level of partisan politics that undermines us all.

Part of the blame falls on the White House for not taking the lead in hammering out the reasons for war before the invasion and repeating those reasons all along.

Maybe now the White House will go on the offensive clarifying and disseminating the facts and engaging in a healthy debate with those who have doubts and in so doing serve the best interests of the country.

(Thank you to Biur Chametz for correcting my geography: Niger is not Nigeria)

See also:

Responding to Kennedy on Iraq I: "Imminent Threat"
Responding to Kennedy on Iraq II: "The Rush to War"
Responding to Kennedy on Iraq III: "Iraq & Al Qaeda"
Responding to Kennedy on Iraq IV: "WMD"

Technorati Tag: Iraq War.