United States' National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on Sunday defended the intelligence that led President Bush to launch the war against Iraq.
Rice firmly denied that the US President had tried to mislead the American public.
"The premise of the war (against Iraq) was that Saddam Hussein was a threat, that he had used weapons of mass destruction that he was continuing to try to get them," Rice told NBC television.
"All of the dots added up to weapons and a weapons program that was dangerous and just getting more so," she added, stressing United Nations reports and foreign intelligence which suggested that Saddam had not accounted for "large stockpiles of weapons."
Rice said, "This was a threat that the President of the United States could not allow to remain there."
She added, "it is unlikely that the essence of the case - this was somebody who had weapons of mass destruction and was still pursuing them - was wrong.
"Let's remember, Saddam Hussein is now gone and it is a great achievement of the United States and the coalition. Nobody wants to say that we would be better off if we had left him in power." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
