One missed opportunity to do that was Sept. 24, 2002–just as Congress was debating an Iraq war resolution–when Robert Walpole, the CIA’s national intelligence officer for nuclear issues, was questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about British assertions that Saddam was seeking “significant” quantities of uranium from Africa. Two sources at the classified hearing tell NEWSWEEK that Walpole appeared to endorse the British report. “He didn’t say there was anything to be doubtful about,” says one source. But an agency spokesman insists Walpole told the senators that “there were concerns about the accuracy” of reports from Niger. (The spokesman wouldn’t comment on what else Walpole said.)
Senate Intelligence vice chair Sen. Jay Rockefeller has directed his staff to get the classified transcript from Senate files–he wants a full-scale investigation into the handling of the Niger documents and other Iraq-war intelligence issues. But GOP Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Pat Roberts has appeared to rule out a formal probe, charging that Bush critics are seeking to exploit the issue for “political gain.” He has authorized only an informal “review” of intelligence files. Democrats will try to force Roberts’s hand this week by calling a closed-door meeting to demand a wider probe with eventual public hearings. What Roberts authorized is “entirely too chummy,” says Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat.
Meanwhile, there are growing tensions over pre-Iraq-war intelligence about terrorism as well. U.S. officials last week confirmed that two top leaders of Al Qaeda in U.S. custody told interrogators Osama bin Laden had vetoed a relationship with Saddam–another intelligence report that was never passed to Congress. But U.S. intelligence officials insist some evidence of Iraq-Qaeda ties is turning up. Sources say Farouk Hijazi, a former top Iraqi diplomat, has told his U.S. interrogators that he did meet with bin Laden in Sudan in the early to mid-1990s–an indication, officials say, that there were at least some of the “contacts” claimed by senior Bush officials prior to the war.
