Washington, July 13: The CIA struck a reference to Iraq seeking to buy nuclear materials from Niger from a presidential speech last October, three months before President George W Bush mentioned it in his State of the Union address, administration officials said. CIA director George Tenet, who has taken full responsibility for the use of the allegations in the President's january 2003 speech, argued personally with White House officials that the allegation should not be used, the Washington Post reported.
Tenet said the allegations, contained in a September 2002 intelligence briefing, should not be used because it came from only a single source, according to one senior official.
CIA had doubts about the accuracy of the documents underlying the allegation, which months later turned out to be forged, another official told The Post. The 'national intelligence estimate" said Iraq tried to purchase upto 500 tons of uranium oxide for its nuclear programme from Niger.
Though the allegation was not mentioned in a speech Bush made in October, 2002, it was unlcear why a less specific reference made it to the later speech. Bureau Report