Friday, October 22, 2004

Former CIA Director Says War on Iraq 'Wrong'

October 22, 2004

While President Bush continues to deny that his decision to go to war in Iraq was an egregious error, administration officials are revealing their true feelings for the war and conceding their mistakes. In a speech in Michigan yesterday, former CIA Director George Tenet admitted that the Iraq war was "wrong." "I believed [Hussein] had weapons of mass destruction. He didn't," Tenet stated. President Bush's mistakes and his administration's manipulations include:

  • The rush to war in Iraq was not justified. The entire rationale for a rapid war in Iraq—the imminent threat of a major attack with weapons of mass destruction and the supposed Iraqi connection to 9/11—had no basis in reality. Beyond Tenet's admission, a new investigation by the Senate Armed Services committee concludes that an "intelligence unit, run by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith, shaded analytic judgments, ignored contrary evidence and sidestepped the CIA to present dubious findings to senior officials at the White House," according to the L.A. Times. The Bush administration misled the American people and the world community.


  • Post-war security failures have left our troops in a chaotic environment. Top military officials and Paul Bremer, who served as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, have all stated that the administration did not supply enough troops and support to secure post-war Iraq. Consequently, our soldiers are caught-up in a rising insurgency, terrorists are pouring across the borders, and critical reconstruction efforts have been thwarted. Iraq is now a terrorist haven and training ground.


  • The wrong choices on Iraq have left the American people less secure and reduced our position as a trusted world leader. The ongoing strategic failures in Iraq have forced America down a dangerous path and left the U.S. taking 90 percent of the casualties and paying 90 percent of the cost. President Bush's decision to invade Iraq – and refusal since to admit error – have left us isolated and less able to take the steps we need to take to protect our people.


  • Center For American Progress

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