White House scolded on prewar claims
Al Qaeda link to Iraq exaggerated, Senate panel says
In a long-awaited report, the Senate Intelligence Committee rebuked President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday for making prewar claims - particularly that Iraq had close ties to al Qaeda - that were not backed by available intelligence.
The report, which was supported by some Republicans but criticized by many others, accuses the president and other members of his administration of repeatedly exaggerating the evidence of an al Qaeda connection to take advantage of the charged climate after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even nonexistent," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Sadly, the Bush administration led the nation into war under false pretenses."
The report amounts to the most direct rebuke to date of the Bush administration's use of intelligence to build support for the Iraq war. But the document, which catalogs hundreds of statements by administration officials, stops short of calling for any further inquiry or punishment.
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