The War For White House Credibility

NewsWeek -- Top of the hawks' agenda: Saddam's links to terrorists and especially Al Qaeda. For months, Wolfowitz and his aides had argued forcefully that Saddam was working with Al Qaeda, raising that specter within days of the 9/11 attacks. But Powell's aides were deeply skeptical of the intel used to support that indictment. Drawing on foreign intelligence from the British, French and German governments, they threw most of the terrorist allegations out of the White House script. "In some cases we refuted and in other cases invalidated it with multiple sources to the contrary," said one senior State official.

The dispute over Saddam's links to Al Qaeda raged through to the end. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, spent 10 hours over two nights overseeing the review, arguing forcefully for the terrorist allegations to be re-inserted in Powell's speech. Her message was echoed by Hadley, and by Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice-president's chief of staff.

The hawks' script was full of holes.

The scandal lives on because it's about a fundamental question: Did the Bush administration mislead the world in going to war in Iraq? The Niger story is about far more than 16 words, or a CIA agent's identity. It's about the credibility of the White House.