I just read this. Maybe most here know how Bush got the lies in about WMD'S in Iraq. To think that they would ALTER intelligence reports makes me sick.
Nuclear Program
The assessments of the Iraqi nuclear program remained fairly consistent from 1998 through 2001, followed by a dramatic jump in 2002. From 1998 to 2001, Iraq's nuclear program was addressed in one paragraph, if at all. Until 2000, the intelligence agencies were concerned that Iraq continued to hide nuclear-related documents, and probably some equipment, but made no claim that Iraq was trying to reconstitute the program. In the first half of 2000, the report noted explicitly "we do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since Desert Fox
to reconstitute its WMD programs," though analysts suspected that this might be underway. The nuclear program merited only two sentences, noting, "Iraq has probably continued low-level, theoretical R&D."
The report for the last half of 2000 began to talk about a "reconstituted nuclear weapons program" and cited rallying calls from Saddam to the "Nuclear Mujahidin." In the first half of 2001, came the first mention that "Baghdad may be attempting to acquiring materials that could aid in reconstituting its nuclear weapons program" (emphasis added). The first report after September 11, however, changed this judgement to a definitive "is attempting to acquire materials" (emphasis added).
The January-June 2002 report, however, raised alarm at unprecedented levels rhetorically, though it provided little new evidence of increased capability.
http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/templates/article.asp?NewsID=5022
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