A top secret United States intelligence report from last autumn is currently at the focus of an internal Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) review to determine whether US intelligence miscalculated the extent of the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, the New York Times reported.
This comes amid mounting concern regarding the credibility of pre-war intelligence, as the search for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons has thus far been fruitless in turning up any concrete evidence of their existence.
In its Wednesday edition, the Times said the report had concluded that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons and was seeking to reconstitute its nuclear program.
The document, which was described by intelligence officials familiar with the review, provided US President George W. Bush with his last major overview of the status of Iraq's program to develop weapons of mass destruction before the beginning of the war in March.
The document, called a national intelligence estimate (NIE), was issued last October and is important because it provided the White House with the last attempt by the entire intelligence community to reach a consensus regarding Iraq's weapons programs before the war began.
The national estimate has been brought to the attention of a small review team of retired CIA analysts who have been called in by the CIA’s director, George Tenet, to assess and examine the accuracy of the intelligence reports produced prior to the war against Iraq, according to officials. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
