Ex-CIA man: 'My dumbest words'
2005-04-28 16:42
Kutztown - Former CIA Director George Tenet said he regretted assuring President George W Bush in 2002 that he had "slam dunk" evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"Those were the two dumbest words I ever said," Tenet told about 1 300 people at a Kutztown University forum Wednesday.
The theory was a leading justification for the war in Iraq. Such weapons were never found.
Tenet, who left the CIA in July after seven years as director, also said apathy toward terrorism - including congressional restrictions and budget and personnel cuts - had sapped United States intelligence efforts for most of the last decade.
"The atrophy was tremendous," said Tenet, 52. "We were nearly bankrupt."
The CIA's assessment of Iraq's capabilities was not developed "for political reasons or a craven desire to lead the country to war," he said.
Tenet, a trusted Bush adviser, made the weapons remark in December 2002, during one of his frequent intelligence briefings with the president. Unsure that Americans would find a CIA listing of evidence compelling, Bush turned to Tenet. "It's a slam-dunk case," Tenet said.
Late last year, Bush awarded Tenet the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian award.
- AP