From the White House Briefing Room
Q Stipulating the fact that the Iraq Survey Group still has a lot of work to do there, does the President believe that David Kay was correct or incorrect when he said that the evidence that America went to war on was inaccurate and wrong?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the decision that the President of the United States made was based on the fact that Saddam Hussein was a gathering threat. That was well-documented. It was something that was based on not only a decade of intelligence by our own government, but intelligence agencies around the world, the United Nations, all concluded that Saddam Hussein was a threat. That's why there were some -- for 12 years and some 17 resolutions, he continued to defy the international community. And 1441 gave him one final opportunity to comply or face serious consequences. He chose defiance. And September 11th taught us that we must confront gathering threats before it is too late.
Now, in terms of your question, there is a Iraq Survey Group whose mission is to look at all those issues and to find the truth as the President directed the team to do. He wants to find the truth. Then, at that point, when they complete their work, and draw as complete a picture as possible, we can compare what we knew before the war with what we know now. But it's important to let them finish their work, and it's important to gather all the facts. I think, as a reporter, you want to gather all the facts and get all the facts you can. Then you can look at what was known -- what we knew before, compare that with what we know now.
Q It's true enough that the President said on several occasions that Iraq and Saddam were a grave and gathering threat, but that was based on the intelligence that David Kay now says was inaccurate and wrong.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think it was based on several reasons that he outlined. We knew that Saddam Hussein had weapons. We knew that he had used weapons on his own people, as well as his neighbors. We knew that he had weapons programs. We knew that he failed to account for his weapons and weapons programs. He failed to comply for some 12 years and some 17 resolutions with the international community's demands. This was a decision that was made by Saddam Hussein. Even after he was given one final opportunity to come clean, he continued to defy the international community. And Resolution 1441 was very clear. It said, this is one final opportunity to comply, or face serious consequences.
Q But the President was always demanding that Saddam Hussein disarm, saying if he doesn't disarm, we'll disarm him.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think the international community was looking into that. A unanimous Security Council resolution called for Saddam Hussein to come clean.
Q It now appears, though, based on David Kay's statements, that the President and/or the international community were asking Iraq to do an impossible task. There was nothing to disarm.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, I would remind you of the progress report by Dr. Kay and the Iraq Survey Group. And Dr. Kay has made it very clear in his media interviews that I've seen that Iraq was a very dangerous place. The President pointed out in his remarks earlier that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man in a dangerous part of the world. In a post-September 11th era, we cannot rely on the good intentions of someone like Saddam Hussein. It's important to confront gathering threats before it's too late. And the decision that the President of the United States made was the right decision then and, based on what we've learned today, it's the right decision today.
Matt's Chat
It is like they just can't understand that the story isn't "Bush lied" but rather that we have seriously flawed intelligence capabilities. Guys, listen up...the intelligence story is a big one. Sink your teeth in to something that matters and maybe the press can actually be useful for a change.Mark's Remarks
No, Matt, it is all the President's fault. It does not matter that France, Russia, Germany, Israel, the freakin all powerful UN, the entire Clinton Administration, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Sen. Levin of Michigan, all of these folks said Saddam had weapons of md. The President is not a psychic, he can only go on the intelligence he received. If all the nations of the world were fooled, then so be it.
The fact is, going back to the Carter Administration, our intel capability has become overly dependent on tech and not enough on human assets. The Church Commission in the 1970s was created for a witch hunt on the CIA but could not find much (Reagan was part of it, see Reagan in his own Words Audio CDs), and John Kerry wanted to eliminate the CIA. Bill Clinton further handcuffed the organization with executive orders and directives limiting who we could talk to and get info from. With undue respect to the liberal media and libs everywhere, grow the hell up!
It is getting old of this Bush lied argument. The man tapped to find the truth, David Kay, said it was the intelligence community's responsibility. Today in testimony, he said this goes back to the Carter Admin. Folks, let's start addressing the problem, not engaging in rhetoric. Oh, wait, libs can't address the problem, because that would mean they have to acknowledge helping to exacerbate it.
