Dubya labels his own intelligence info 'naive'
BY RICHARD SISK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
WASHINGTON - President Bush criticized his own intelligence agencies
yesterday as "naive" for saying the Iraq war was spreading terror
worldwide and rallying new recruits for Al Qaeda.
In heated remarks, Bush said, "I think it's a mistake for people to
believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm
to the American people makes us less safe."
"To suggest that if we weren't in Iraq we would see a rosier scenario,
with fewer extremists joining the radical movement, requires us to
ignore 20 years of experience" of terror attacks, Bush said. "I think
it is naive."
Bush ordered excerpts of the highly classified National Intelligence
Estimate to be made public yesterday because he implied they would
support his argument.
But excerpts of the estimate, compiled by 16 spy agencies including the
CIA, appeared to contradict Bush.
"The Iraq conflict has become a 'cause c=E9l=E8bre' for jihadists," the
estimate said, and the occupation was "breeding a deep resentment of
U=2ES. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the
global jihadist movement."
The estimate also said that "the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation
of terrorist leaders and operatives."
Bush released the document and made his remarks against the backdrop of
furious last-minute positioning by Republicans and Democrats on the top
national security issue before Congress adjourns this week for the
November elections.
The President said the secret document was initially leaked last week
for political reasons.
"I think it's a bad habit for our government to declassify every time
there's a leak," Bush said. "But once again there's a leak out of our
government, coming right down the stretch in this campaign, in order to
create confusion in the minds of the American people."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said the estimate showed that, "The
writing is on the wall and itdoesn't say 'Mission Accomplished.' It
says: It's time to change course."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the findings outlined
"the unfortunate consequences of the administration's decision to
cherry-pick prewar intelligence, ignore our senior military leaders and
completely fail to plan for the post-Saddam occupation."
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