US President George W Bush this afternoon defended his use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, saying he is "absolutely confident" in his actions. Earlier the White House admitted that Mr Bush was wrong when he said Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa.
Democrats have argued that the White House's acknowledgement that Mr Bush inclusion of this untrue evidence in a State of the Union Address in January justifies a review of how the administration used pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
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"This is a very important admission," said Senate Democratic Leader, Mr Tom Daschle. "It's a recognition that we were provided faulty information. And I think it's all the more reason why a full investigation of all of the facts surrounding this situation be undertaken."
At a news conference in Pretoria with South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki, Mr Bush rounded on his critics. "There's no doubt in my mind that when it's all said and done the facts will show the world the truth," he said. "There's going to be, you know, a lot of attempts to try to rewrite history, and I can understand that. But I'm absolutely confident in the decision I made."
However, Mr Bush failed to directly address the misstatement. Instead, he launched a defence of his decision to go to war based on broad principles.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the world peace," Mr Bush said. "And there's no doubt in my mind that the United States did the right thing in removing him from power." Mr Bush has, like Mr Blair, now dropped references to Saddam Hussein's nuclear "weapons", saying now that the country had a "programme."
The Bush administration used purported Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as a major justification for the war, and the failure to find such weapons so far has generated intense criticism.
White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer set off a furore on Monday when, under questioning by reporters, he acknowledged that Bush was incorrect in his State of the Union speech when he said "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Mr Fleischer said yesterday that "this type of information should not have risen to the level of a presidential speech." But, he added, "this is a classic issue of hindsight is 20-20. There's a bigger picture here," Mr Fleischer said. He repeated administration assertions that Saddam was trying to reconstitute a weapons of mass destruction program.
It also emerged today that 12 months before the State of the Union speech, the US Government sent a senior former diplomat, Mr Joseph C Wilson IV, to Niger to inquire into whether the country was supplying nuclear material to Iraq.
According to a BBC report, Mr Wilson admitted that he informed the US Government that "it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had taken place" because Niger's uranium mines were under strict international control.
In an article in the New York Timesthis week Mr Wilson said: "I have little choice but to conclude that some intelligence was twisted to exaggerate the threat."
In light of Mr Wilson's report, questions are raised as to why Mr Bush included this claim in his report.
The admission that the Niger claim was false, also raises questions for Mr Blair. In his State of the Union Address Mr Bush based his claim on intelligence obtained from Britain.
A committee of MPs was told by Mr Blair yesterday that he had other evidence about the Niger link which "did not come from these so-called forged documents. They came from separate intelligence, he said."
Agencies