CivicActions

The American people overwhelmingly (and correctly) believe that George Bush misled them about the need to go to war in Iraq, polls show. But the debate has continued about whether Bush deliberately lied, or was merely duped.

Either conclusion is, of course, corrosive to trust in our democracy and the ability of the press and Congress to provide a reality check on presidential war powers.

Many have defended Bush for his false claims that Iraq possessed WMD by pointing out that Congress, the US Intelligence community and the intelligence agencies of our allies all held similar beliefs. They claim further that there is no evidence of a calculated deception by Bush.

This nice piece of investigative reporting by Sid Blumenthal shows otherwise. In fact, Bush and Tenet deliberately withheld or distorted high-level, first-hand documentary intelligence that Saddam did not have an active nuclear program, and did not possess chemical or biological weapons. This intelligence was withheld from Secretary Powell (whose credibility would be shredded by his appearance at the UN), from the authors of the NIE (which report formed the basis of the Congressional authorization,) and from the Intelligence Committees of Congress. And while suppressing accurate intelligence that undercut his case for war, Bush and Tenet bolstered the false intelligence from the now notorious "Curveball," who pocketed millions of dollars of US cash for lying to us.