Chapter 5, Part 3 Summary

The Bush administration worked hard to build a case against Iraq, sometimes downplaying factual information. Secretary of State Colin Powell was presented with a review in December 2001 which stated that it was not likely the Iraqis were reconstituting their nuclear program. The last definitive evidence showing no nuclear weapons had been under the last group of UN weapons inspectors in 1997. Since then, there had been no first-hand intelligence contradicting this…that was, until the Niger-Iraq connection. The Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) made a report available to the C.I.A., claiming Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium ore (yellowcake) from Niger. But the report offered no corroborating documentation and was dismissed as "amateurish" by the C.I.A. The C.I.A. considered it a dead story, but Cheney did not like this response and asked the C...