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Cia agent says wmd evidence ignored Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-04-21T213813Z_01_N21335253_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-INTELLIGENCE-CIA.xml http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-04-21T213813Z_01_N21335253_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-INTELLIGENCE-CIA.xml Ex-CIA agent says WMD intelligence ignored Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:38 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA had evidence Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction six months before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion but was ignored by a White House intent on ousting Saddam Hussein, a former senior CIA official said according to CBS. Tyler Drumheller, who headed CIA covert operations in Europe during the run-up to the Iraq war, said intelligence opposing administration claims of a WMD threat came from a top Iraqi official who provided the U.S. spy agency with other credible information. The source "told us that there were no active weapons of mass destruction programs," Drumheller said in a CBS interview to be aired on Sunday on the network's news magazine, "60 Minutes." "The (White House) group that was dealing with preparation for the Iraq war came back and said they were no longer interested," he was quoted as saying in interview excerpts released by CBS on Friday. "We said: 'Well, what about the intel?' And they said: 'Well, this isn't about intel anymore. This is about regime change'," added Drumheller, whose CIA operation was assigned the task of debriefing the Iraqi official. He was the latest former U.S. official to accuse the White House of setting an early course toward war in Iraq and ignoring intelligence that conflicted with its aim. CBS said the CIA's intelligence source was former Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and that former CIA Director George Tenet delivered the information personally to President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top White House officials in September 2002. They rebuffed the CIA three days later. "The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy," the former CIA agent told CBS. U.S. allegations that Saddam had WMD and posed a threat to international security was a main justification for the March 2003 invasion. A 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, to which the CIA was a major contributor, concluded that prewar Iraq had an active nuclear program and a huge stockpile of unconventional weapons. No such weapons have been found, however, and U.S. assertions that they existed are now regarded as a hugely damaging intelligence failure. But Drumheller, co-author of a forthcoming book entitled "On the Brink: How the White House Has Compromised American Intelligence," rejects the notion of an intelligence failure. "It just sticks in my craw every time I hear them say it's an intelligence failure," he told CBS. "This was a policy failure."

Administration manufactured manipulated intelligence Blair sought to create justification for war { May 1 2005 } Bolton harrassed intimidated cia analyst { April 13 2005 } Bolton shaped intelligence on policy { April 18 2005 } Bolton third attempt to fire analyst not cooperating { April 15 2005 } Bush terror advisor says intel can prove anything { May 23 2007 } Cheney calls cia brief clearing iraq crap { September 11 2001 } Cheney role pretext war Cheneys fight with the cia over iraq { October 20 2005 } Cia agent says wmd evidence ignored Cia official says false intel was used to justify war { February 10 2006 } Cia official says iraqi data was distorted { February 11 2006 } Cia pressured by cheney iraq evidence { June 5 2003 } Depiction of threat outgrew supporting evidence { August 10 2003 } Emails show bolton twisting intelligence { May 11 2005 } Expert said pressed distort evidence { June 25 2003 } Harsh interrogation techniques hinder good information { January 16 2007 } Intelligence was being shaped to support invasion { May 22 2005 } Secret report shows bush war plan before resolution { September 3 2003 } Files Listed: 19

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