'US exaggerated Iraqi threat'

2004-01-08 19:26

Washington - An influential think tank said on Thursday that President George W Bush's administration "systematically" misrepresented and exaggerated the threats presented by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The critical report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the United States also misrepresented the findings of United Nations weapons inspectors in a bid to justify its case for war against Iraq.

"Administration officials systematically misrepresented the threat from Iraq's WMD and ballistic missile programmes," said the report.

Officials had also misrepresented UN "inspectors findings in ways that turned threats from minor to dire," it said.

The 100-page report took six months to compile and examined claims made by the White House in the run-up to the March 20 invasion that ousted former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Hunt for weapons goes on

It also said there was "no solid evidence" to back administration claims of a close relationship between Saddam and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

In launching the war, Bush had said Saddam's former government had presented a direct threat to the US and the world.

The US has failed to uncover any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons since the war. Hundreds of experts are still scouring Iraq in the hunt.

- AFP