Former inspector: U.S. wrong about WMD

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former weapons inspector David Kay said Wednesday "we were almost all wrong" about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, as Congress pressed a high-stakes struggle to pinpoint why that happened and who was responsible.\nRepublicans say the nation's intelligence agencies were the problem. Democrats point to the White House, questioning possible pressure put on intelligence analysts and noting Vice President Dick Cheney's continued assertions weapons of mass destruction existed.\nAsked at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing if an independent investigation was warranted, Kay replied he believed an outside inquiry would give Congress and the public more confidence. Democrats are sure to make us of that point as they call for more, and broader inquiries.\nKay said he spent six months looking for the former Iraqi president's banned weapons and has concluded, based on a "sufficiently intense" effort, they were not there. Kay said inspectors found no stockpiles -- large or small.\n"We were almost all wrong, and I certainly include myself here," he said. "My view was that the best evidence I had seen was that Iraq indeed had weapons of mass destruction."\nKay blamed a lack of human intelligence inside Iraq and inadequate money for U.S. intelligence agencies. He also said he believes analysts have been asked to read too much into limited data.\nAnd, he said, the U.S. intelligence community had become "almost addicted" to information coming from United Nations weapons inspectors during the 1990s, leaving them in trouble when those inspectors had to leave.\nSince he resigned Friday as the top weapons hunter in Iraq, Kay's public statements have sparked widespread questioning in Washington about the reliability of U.S. intelligence data and the Bush Administration's main justification for war -- to remove an imminent threat posed by Saddam and his supposed weapons.\nPresident Bush has vigorously defended his decision to go to war and expressed confidence in the intelligence agencies. But Tuesday, Bush shied away from previous assertions weapons would eventually be found. "There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a gathering threat to America and others," Bush said.\nThe White House, Wednesday dismissed the notion of an independent investigation into intelligence failures.\nWhile many congressional Republicans maintain the world is better off without Saddam -- whether or not banned weapons are found -- some are beginning to doubt the reliability of U.S. intelligence gathering.\nSen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., a member of the intelligence committee, said "there's no question" the information was inaccurate. "We are trying to evaluate why," he said after a morning briefing from Kay.\nA testy Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., hoping to fend off widespread calls for investigations, said his committee is in the midst of an inquiry, and members will receive a draft report next week.\n"I personally take some umbrage at people who, for one reason or another, think we need an outside investigation before our inquiry is even complete," he said.\nRoberts contends the problem was with intelligence agencies, not policy-makers at the White House.\nBut West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the intelligence committee's top democrat, said the congressional inquiry doesn't do enough to examine whether the collection of intelligence was manipulated by Bush Administration officials.\nKay said he doesn't think members of the Administration pressured analysts to shape evidence to make the case for war. "I deeply think that is the wrong explanation," Kay said, adding numerous analysts had come to him in recent months to apologize about incorrect estimates.\nDemocrats are using many of the administration's past statements on the Iraqi weapons program to criticize the decision to wage a pre-emptive war. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., quoted from more than a half dozen statements from Bush and his Cabinet members asserting the existence of Saddam's weapons programs.\n"When lives are at stake and our military is going to be placed in harm's way ... it is totally unacceptable to have intelligence that is this far off, or to exaggerate or shape intelligence for any purpose by anybody," Levin said.\nLevin homed-in on a statement by Cheney last week saying trailers found in Iraq are believed to be mobile weapons labs and "conclusive evidence" a weapons program existed.