"Defective or Manipulated," Says U.S. Senator About WMD Intelligence

CHICAGO (NFTF.org) -- As the world awaits the Bush administration to unveil Saddam Hussein's massive quantities of weapons of mass destruction, doubts over U.S. evidence within the United States government are beginning to surface.

In his State of the Union Address, U.S. President Bush argued that Iraq was capable of producing "over 25,000 liters of anthrax ... more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin ... the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent ... had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents." Yet, to date, none of these accusations have been proven.

But in recent days, outspoken comments from segments of the U.S. government have been casting doubts on the Bush administration's evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof argued today that the Bush administration "souped up intelligence, leaned on spooks to change their conclusions and concealed contrary information to deceive people at home and around the world."

Kristof points to how the Bush administration used phony and forged documents attempting to show that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium from Niger.

Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico raised similar concerns: "The intelligence that our officials was given regarding W.M.D. was either defective or manipulated."