Panel report leaves 2 rationales that Bush used for war in tatters
by Dana Milbank, Walter Pincus, Washington Post

Friday's report by the Senate Intelligence committee left in shreds two of the Bush administration's main rationales for the war in Iraq: that Iraq had illicit weapons and that it cooperated with al Qaeda.

The undermining of the administration's case for war is potentially a grave threat to Bush, whose re-election prospects are closely tied to Americans' view of the merits of the Iraq war and whether it advances the fight against terrorism. For that reason, Bush has delayed a final reckoning on Iraq's forbidden weapons by naming a commission that will not report its findings until after the election. In the meantime, he continues to assert ties between al Qaeda and Iraq, and to place blame for any weapons miscalculation squarely on the CIA.

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