TURNING GOLD INTO LEAD

Iraqi diplomat gave U.S. prewar WMD details: Saddam’s foreign minister told CIA the truth, so why didn’t agency listen? (Aram Roston, Lisa Myers, NBC News, 3/20/06)

In the period before the Iraq war, the CIA and the Bush administration erroneously believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding major programs for weapons of mass destruction. Now NBC News has learned that for a short time the CIA had contact with a secret source at the highest levels within Saddam Hussein’s government, who gave them information far more accurate than what they believed. It is a spy story that has never been told before, and raises new questions about prewar intelligence....

The sources say Sabri’s answers were much more accurate than his proclamations to the United Nations, where he demonized the U.S. and defended Saddam. At the same time, they also were closer to reality than the CIA's estimates, as spelled out in its October 2002 intelligence estimate.

For example, consider biological weapons, a key concern before the war. The CIA said Saddam had an "active" program for "R&D, production and weaponization" for biological agents such as anthrax. Intelligence sources say Sabri indicated Saddam had no significant, active biological weapons program. Sabri was right. After the war, it became clear that there was no program.

Another key issue was the nuclear question: How far away was Saddam from having a bomb? The CIA said if Saddam obtained enriched uranium, he could build a nuclear bomb in "several months to a year." Sabri said Saddam desperately wanted a bomb, but would need much more time than that. Sabri was more accurate.

On the issue of chemical weapons, the CIA said Saddam had stockpiled as much as "500 metric tons of chemical warfare agents" and had "renewed" production of deadly agents. Sabri said Iraq had stockpiled weapons and had "poison gas" left over from the first Gulf War. Both Sabri and the agency were wrong.

Reporter 1: I've got a report on how international anti-war protests are sweeping the world, demonstrating that Bush has squandered the world's traditional love of all things American.

Reporter 2: I've got a report on two Harvard proffessors who say that Israeli lobbyists have captured American foreign policy.

Reporter 3: Uh, bad news, boss. I've got a report that the Iraqi Foreign Minister was passing Iraqi secrets along to the CIA before the war, including that Iraq was stockpiling WMD's, was in violation of the UN's resolutions and that Saddam still wanted to get his hands on a nuclear bomb.

Ed: We can't use that. Wait, did he say anything that was contrary to the administration?

Reporter 3: He denied that Iraq had any active WMD programs....

Ed: Great, run with that. Can't you guys even recognize the lede when you stumble over it?