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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bush Administration Trying to Set Record Straight
Aired July 10, 2003 - 05:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just because one part of the argument is wrong, does that make the whole case suspect? The Bush administration is trying to set the record straight on some bogus prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Here's CNN's Robin Oakley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was Saddam Hussein before his fall trying to buy uranium from Niger in Africa for a nuclear weapons program? When making their case for war, both U.S. and U.K. governments insisted he was.
The U.K. government included the claim in a dossier presented to law makers last September. President George Bush, sourcing it to the U.K., did the same in January.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
OAKLEY: But U.S. authorities have had second thoughts. Documents they passed to the International Atomic Energy Agency proved to be crude forgeries. Now, the White House says it was wrong to include the uranium claim in the president's speech and that there isn't information specific enough to sustain it.
Tony Blair, under pressure to prove he didn't distort the case for war, is taking a different line. He told law makers Monday he stuck by the nuclear claim.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The evidence that we had that the Iraqi government had gone back to try to purchase further amounts of uranium from Niger did not come from these so-called forged documents. They came from separate intelligence. And, again, insofar as our intelligence services are concerned, they stand by that.
OAKLEY: U.K. foreign office officials told investigators the evidence was from a foreign security service and had been passed on to the IAEA. No, says the IAEA, the only evidence passed to them was the forged documents. And another puzzle. Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in February 2002 to check the nuclear claims, which he then told Washington were unsubstantiated. But Downing Street officials said Tuesday they'd only recently learned of his mission and hadn't changed their attitude when they did.
Meanwhile, Blair's poll ratings continue to drop.
DANA ALLIN, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: British support for the war was not as strong as the United States. There was a much -- much more worry about going outside the U.N. Security Council. So the fault, the backlash when some of the evidence starts to look a little bit more dodgy, I think, is obviously much more dangerous for the prime minister.
OAKLEY (on camera): Downing Street says the law makers' intelligence committee now investigating its case for war will be given all relevant information. Whether that will include the uranium evidence remains to be seen.
Robin Oakley, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 10, 2003 - 05:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just because one part of the argument is wrong, does that make the whole case suspect? The Bush administration is trying to set the record straight on some bogus prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Here's CNN's Robin Oakley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was Saddam Hussein before his fall trying to buy uranium from Niger in Africa for a nuclear weapons program? When making their case for war, both U.S. and U.K. governments insisted he was.
The U.K. government included the claim in a dossier presented to law makers last September. President George Bush, sourcing it to the U.K., did the same in January.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
OAKLEY: But U.S. authorities have had second thoughts. Documents they passed to the International Atomic Energy Agency proved to be crude forgeries. Now, the White House says it was wrong to include the uranium claim in the president's speech and that there isn't information specific enough to sustain it.
Tony Blair, under pressure to prove he didn't distort the case for war, is taking a different line. He told law makers Monday he stuck by the nuclear claim.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The evidence that we had that the Iraqi government had gone back to try to purchase further amounts of uranium from Niger did not come from these so-called forged documents. They came from separate intelligence. And, again, insofar as our intelligence services are concerned, they stand by that.
OAKLEY: U.K. foreign office officials told investigators the evidence was from a foreign security service and had been passed on to the IAEA. No, says the IAEA, the only evidence passed to them was the forged documents. And another puzzle. Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in February 2002 to check the nuclear claims, which he then told Washington were unsubstantiated. But Downing Street officials said Tuesday they'd only recently learned of his mission and hadn't changed their attitude when they did.
Meanwhile, Blair's poll ratings continue to drop.
DANA ALLIN, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: British support for the war was not as strong as the United States. There was a much -- much more worry about going outside the U.N. Security Council. So the fault, the backlash when some of the evidence starts to look a little bit more dodgy, I think, is obviously much more dangerous for the prime minister.
OAKLEY (on camera): Downing Street says the law makers' intelligence committee now investigating its case for war will be given all relevant information. Whether that will include the uranium evidence remains to be seen.
Robin Oakley, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
