Timing of Report Called Inspector's Decision
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 7, 2004; Page A35
As the White House's prewar claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs became increasingly discredited, the investigation by Charles A. Duelfer and his Iraq Survey Group provided a convenient out for President Bush and his aides.
When challenged about mounting evidence that crucial intelligence had been wrong or exaggerated, the administration could say only that Duelfer was still looking for the weapons and that the last word was still to come.
The last word arrived at the White House on Friday and was made public on Capitol Hill yesterday. It carried the title "Comprehensive Report."
From the perspective of the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign, the timing could be difficult , coming 27 days before the election, two days before the second presidential debate and a day after publication of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's assertion that the United States had deployed too few troops in Iraq early on....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13152-2004Oct6.html