Iraq never imminent threat, says CIA chief

IN HIS first public defence of pre-war intelligence, CIA Director George Tenet yesterday said US analysts never claimed Iraq posed an imminent threat.

Mr Tenet said analysts had varying opinions on the state of Iraq’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and those differences were spelled out in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate given to the White House. That report summarised intelligence on Iraq’s weapons programs.

Analysts “painted an objective assessment for our policy makers of a brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs that might constantly surprise us and threaten our interests”, he said in a speech at Georgetown University, his alma mater.