6-13-03

I guess Spot ate the other evidence:

WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday stood by President Bush's assertion that Iraq has sought uranium in Africa in recent years, saying that his allegation in January was supported by more evidence than a series of letters now known to have been forged.

Those letters, obtained by European intelligence agencies and later by the United States, were a purported exchange between officials in Iraq and the African country of Niger concerning the possible purchase of uranium. The United Nations later determined they were forgeries.

"Those documents were only one piece of evidence in a larger body of evidence suggesting that Iraq attempted to purchase uranium from Africa," said Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "The issue of Iraq's pursuit of uranium in Africa is supported by multiple sources of intelligence. The other sources of evidence did and do support the president's statement."