The U.S. President George W. Bush admitted that he authorized the leak of secret intelligence ahead of the Iraq war to justify the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Reuters reported.
Former top White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, said in court papers that he was authorized by Vice-President **** Cheney, through Bush, to pass secret intelligence on Iraq from the classified National Intelligence Estimate to a New York Times reporter.
Bush admitted today that he declassified an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate in July 2003.
“I wanted people to see what some of those statements were based on. I wanted people to see the truth. I thought it made sense for people to see the truth. That's why I declassified the document," he said.
“I will say this, that after we liberated Iraq, there was questions in peoples' minds about, you know, the basis upon which I made statements, in other words, going into Iraq,” he added.
According to court papers, "the Vice President advised defendant (Libby) that the president specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the NIE."
But the U.S. President said that he didn’t specifically order Libby to declassify the information.
Libby is accused of obstruction of justice and perjury in an investigation designed to discover who leaked the name of a CIA agent.
President Bush has repeatedly denied that he knows of any secret information leaks.
"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action," the American President said in September 2003.
German hostages make video plea
Two German engineers held hostage in Iraq appeared in a video in the Internet pleading for their lives while their captors vowed to kill them if the U.S. didn’t release Iraqi detainees, BBC reported.
"We're at the end of our nerves, please help us, we can't take it any more," said Thomas Nitzschke in the 24-second video, dated March 28.
Nitzsche was shown beside Rene Braeunlich, both bearded and wearing T-shirts.
Their captors also demanded Germany to end "all support rendered to the Americans and their supporters".
The two German engineers were abducted near an oil refinery compound in northern Iraq on January 24.
The German government contacted their kidnappers in January after an earlier video was released but did not give any details.
The President of the US has the authority to declassify any piece of intelligence he wants to unless instructed not to by Congress. What he did was within the law. It's a non issue.
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks