Bush to Declassify Part of Intelligence Report

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush on Tuesday said it is naive and a mistake to think that the war with Iraq has worsened terrorism, as a key portion of a national intelligence assessment by his own administration suggests. He said he was declassifying part of the report.“Some people have guessed what’s in the report and concluded that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree,” Mr. Bush said.He asserted that portions of the classified report that had been leaked were done so for political purposes, referring to the Nov. 7 midterm elections.Mr. Bush announced that he had instructed National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to declassify those parts of the report that don’t compromise national security or intelligence-gathering methods.Portions of the document that have been leaked suggest that the threat of terrorism has grown worse since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the war in Afghanistan, due in part to the war in Iraq.Democrats have used the report – written by analysts from a range of intelligence branches – to bolster their criticism of Mr. Bush’s Iraq policy.The administration does not dispute the findings, but claims only part of the report was leaked – and does not tell the full story.Mr. Negroponte “is going to declassify the document as quickly as possible – declassify the key judgments for you to read yourself,” Mr. Bush told reporters in the East Room. “And he’ll do so in such a way that we’ll be able to protect sources and methods…that our intelligence community uses.”Using a portion of the report to attack his Iraq policy and suggest it has fanned more terrorism is “naive,” Mr. Bush assertedMr. Bush said the full report shows “that, because of our successes against the leadership of al-Qaida, the enemy is becoming more diffuse and independent.”Both the chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee had urged the White House to release the material.“You read it for yourself. Stop all this speculation,” Mr. Bush said.He complained that “somebody leaked classified information for political purposes” and criticized both the news media and people in government who talked to them about classified material.On Wednesday Mr. Bush and Mr. Karzai will be joined by President Musharraf for dinner at the White House.The two central Asian presidents have been at odds recently over each country’s efforts to hunt terrorists and to stop them from crossing their shared border, especially in tribal areas.“You know, it’ll be interesting for me to watch the body language of these two leaders to determine how tense things are,” Mr. Bush said.“I’ll be good,” Mr. Karzai said.“We will back any move, any deal, that will deny terrorism a sanctuary” along the border, the Afghan leader added.Mr. Bush said that it was in the interests of both Mr. Karzai and Mr. Musharraf, as well as in the interests of America, to see Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders brought to justice.“Our interests coincide,” Mr. Bush said.In addition to the war on terrorism, Mr. Bush and Mr. Karzai said they talked about a range of issues that concerned both countries – including rising Taliban violence and an unprecedented narcotics trade.“I’m very grateful, Mr. President, to you and the American people for all that you have done for Afghanistan for the last four and a half years,” Mr. Karzai said.During his visit to Washington, Mr. Karzai also called on Pakistan to close extremist schools.Mr. Karzai has engaged in some sniping with Musharraf on countering terrorism. Mr. Musharraf has complained Mr. Karzai had not done enough.Here last week to see Mr. Bush, Mr. Musharraf said extremist schools accounted for only about 5 percent of the schools in Pakistan. He acknowledged that “we are moving slowly” against them.Mr. Karzai said ahead of his visit here that his country would be “heaven in less than a year” if it received the $300 billion America had spent in Iraq.As it is, Mr. Karzai said at a news conference Monday that Afghanistan has $1.9 billion in reserves, up from $180 million in 2002.Afghanistan has been suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001 in an American-led war.

Bush to Declassify Part of Intelligence Report

Bush to Declassify Part of Intelligence Report

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