Senate Committee slams CIA not Bush

U.S. intelligence agencies overstated the threat imposed by Iraq's weapons in the months prior to U.S.-British invasion. This is the main conclusion from a report prepared by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The report prepared by the Senate Intelligence Committee harshly criticizes intelligence agencies for their assessments of the Iraqi threat in the months before the U.S.-led invasion.

According to politinfo.com, Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, released a public version of the classified report prepared by his panel.

"Most of the key judgments in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's WMD programs were either overstated or were not supported by the raw intelligence reporting," he said.

One of the major justifications US President George W. Bush cited for launching the Iraq war in 2003 was the intelligence suggesting that Iraq was aggressively developing nuclear, chemicaland biological weapons.

Tthe report by the Senate committee said it found no evidence that administration officials pressured agencies to change their judgments on Iraq weapons programs.

"The committee did not find any evidence that administration officials attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities," it said.

However, many Democrats believe the administration manipulated intelligence to make its case for war.

The Intelligence Committee does plan to consider how the administration used the intelligence in making policy decisions as the second part of its inquiry.