CIA was 'just guessing' in report on Iraq

1.00pm

NEW YORK - US President George W Bush, determined to put an optimistic face on deadly conditions in Iraq, said on Tuesday that the CIA was just guessing when it said the war-racked country was in danger of slipping into civil war.

"The CIA laid out several scenarios. It said that life could be lousy, life could be OK, life could be better. And they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like," Bush told reporters during a picture-taking session with Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Bush and Allawi met for 45 minutes on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The CIA, which has been blamed for spectacular lapses involving the September 11, 2001, attacks and prewar Iraqi weapons capabilities, gave Bush a report last July that presented a bleak outlook for Iraq.

The classified document, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, predicted three possible scenarios ranging from a tenuous stability to political fragmentation and civil war.

However, Bush said he was confident Iraq would emerge as a peaceful democratic nation because of the determination of the Iraqi people to build a free society.

He said he expected Allawi's visit to the United States would help convince Americans not to be discouraged by disturbing news reports from the country.

"The Iraqi citizens are defying the pessimistic predictions," Bush said.

"The American people have seen horrible scenes on our TV screens. And the prime minister will be able to say to them that in spite of the sacrifices being made, in spite of the fact that Iraqis are dying, and US troops are dying as well, that there is a will amongst the Iraqi people to succeed."

Allawi told reporters his interim government and its US-led allies were winning against the insurgents but that progress was being ignored by media coverage.

In October 2002, a National Intelligence Estimate argued that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and helped the administration justify its decision to go to war. Large stockpiles of such weapons have not been found.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq