Bush to set up panel to probe Iraq intelligence failures

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Bush to set up panel to probe Iraq intelligence failures

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US President George W. Bush saidon Monday that he will create an "independent, bipartisan" commission to probe into failures on Iraq intelligence after consulting former chief weapons inspector David Kay.

"I am putting together an independent, bipartisan commission toanalyze where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this waragainst terror," Bush told reporters.

He said he would get a briefing from Kay soon.

Bush has been under mounting political pressure and the White House has acknowledged flaws in its intelligence gathering prior to the war, after Kay, who resigned late last month, said that Iraq possessed no stockpiles of biological or chemical weapons before the US-led war on Iraq early last year.

Lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties said the country's credibility is being undermined by uncertainty over flawed intelligence that led the US war in Iraq, and wanted the Bush administration to create an independent panel to look into the intelligence failures.

Kay told the Congress last week that "it turns out we were all wrong, probably" about the Iraqi threat.

The Bush administration launched the Iraq war in March last year, citing "grave and gathering danger" posed by Iraq's biological and chemical weapons, and warranted his pre-emptive doctrine to guard US security in the face of new terror threats.

Bush defended his decision of going to war in Iraq. "I want allthe facts. We do know that Saddam Hussein had the intent and capabilities to cause great harm we know he was a danger...He slaughtered thousands of people," he said.

Bush did not set a timetable for the panel to submit its report,and analysts said the findings would not be expected before the November presidential elections.

Source: Xinhua

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