http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52154WHAT'S BEEN UNCOVERED
White House Iraq Group Had Disdain for CIA Views on Intelligence Matters.
"When the disclosure of Wilson's CIA mission to Niger put the White House on the defensive, one administration official said it reminded a tight knit group of Bush neoconservatives of their longtime battles with the agency and underlined their determination to fight. Many of those officials also were members of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), established to coordinate and promote administration policy. It included the most influential players who would represent two elements of the current scandal: a hardball approach to political critics and long-standing disdain for CIA views on intelligence matters. The group consisted of Rove, Libby, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley, and Mary Matalin, Cheney's media advisor. All are believed to have been questioned in the leak case; papers and e-mails about the group were subpoenaed. Before the war, this Iraq group promoted the view that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was seeking more. In September 2002, the White House embraced a British report asserting that 'Iraq has sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.'" ( Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05, emphasis added;
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak25aug25,1,4191230,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation )
Document Provided to Powell From Libby And WHIG Full Of "Lousy" Intelligence.
"A week before the speech, Powell had walked into Wilkerson's office with the 48-page document provided by Libby that laid out the intelligence on the Iraqi weapons program. Most of it was rejected because its facts could not be verified. Wilkerson believes that draft was based at least in part on data provided to Cheney by Rumsfeld's intelligence group. 'Where else did they get this 48-page document that came jam-packed with information that probably came first from the (Iraqi National Congress), Chalabi and other lousy sources?' Wilkerson asked. Wilkerson was told that Libby had said the 48-page document was designed to offer Powell 'a Chinese menu' of intelligence highlights to draw from for his speech. Powell and his team were skeptical of most of it." ( Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05;
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak25aug25,1,4191230,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation )
WHIG Members Attempted to Reinsert Intelligence Backed By Hearsay.
"Rice, Tenet and Hadley were trying to reinsert bits of intelligence they personally favored but that could not be corroborated. Hadley offered an unsubstantiated report of alleged meetings between Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague shortly before the attacks. 'The whole time, people were trying to reinsert their favorite... pet rocks back into the presentation, when their pet rocks weren't backed up by anything but hearsay, or Chalabi or the INC or both,' Wilkerson said. In the end, Powell agreed with Tenet to rely mainly on the national intelligence estimate on Iraq, which had been vetted by the CIA. Wilkerson came to believe that the Pentagon officials, and their allies in the White House, doubted what the intelligence community said because 'it didn't fit their script' for going to war." ( Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05;
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak25aug25,1,4191230,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation )
WHAT AMERICANS DESERVE TO KNOW
Who did the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) report to within the administration? Who was WHIG's leader? Rove, Libby, or Rice? Why were WHIG members, like Karen Hughes, who had left the Administration to work for the RNC, allowed to view classified intelligence? Who gave final approval of the 'Chinese menu of intelligence' provided to Powell? Why was WHIG relying on intelligence backed up only by hearsay? When did the WHIG members learn of Valerie Plame's identity?
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