The CIA chief, George Tenet, yesterday took the blame for President George Bush's discredited claim that Saddam Hussein had tried to procure uranium from Africa.
Mr Tenet's admission of error was made at the end of a day when the CIA chief came under attack, and after a week when the furore over false intelligence appeared to be reaching a critical point.
In a statement, Mr Tenet said he had been wrong to allow Mr Bush to include the line that Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from Niger in his state of the union address in January.
Officials had doubts about the report - which originated from MI6 - and an independent CIA investigation dismissed its credibility nearly a year before Mr Bush's speech. However, it remained in the speech, and was attributed to British intelligence.
"These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president," Mr Tenet said last night. "This was a mistake."
By shouldering the blame, Mr Tenet was trying to limit Mr Bush's exposure to a controversy that is assuming ever larger proportions.
Mr Tenet's admission of error was made at the end of a day when the CIA chief came under attack, and after a week when the furore over false intelligence appeared to be reaching a critical point.
In a statement, Mr Tenet said he had been wrong to allow Mr Bush to include the line that Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from Niger in his state of the union address in January.
Officials had doubts about the report - which originated from MI6 - and an independent CIA investigation dismissed its credibility nearly a year before Mr Bush's speech. However, it remained in the speech, and was attributed to British intelligence.
"These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president," Mr Tenet said last night. "This was a mistake."
By shouldering the blame, Mr Tenet was trying to limit Mr Bush's exposure to a controversy that is assuming ever larger proportions.
