NY Times: The Leak Bush Authorized Libby To Divulge "Was So Distorted...More Like Disinformation Than Any Sincere Attempt To Inform The Public"...

New York Times April 16, 2006 at 11:31 AM
READ MORE: Scooter Libby, Saddam Hussein, Iraq, Halliburton, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush

President Bush says he declassified portions of the prewar intelligence assessment on Iraq because he "wanted people to see the truth" about Iraq's weapons programs and to understand why he kept accusing Saddam Hussein of stockpiling weapons that turned out not to exist. This would be a noble sentiment if it actually bore any relationship to Mr. Bush's actions in this case, or his overall record.

Mr. Bush did not declassify the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq -- in any accepted sense of that word -- when he authorized I. Lewis Libby Jr., through Vice President Dick Cheney, to talk about it with reporters. He permitted a leak of cherry-picked portions of the report. The declassification came later.

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