As rationales for war erode, issue of blame looms large

ANALYSIS

By Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus

Updated: 11:54 p.m. ET July 09, 2004WASHINGTON - Yesterday'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 conclusions are not earthshaking by themselves. Although President Bush and Vice President Cheney have not abandoned either rationale, both were already tattered after similar doubts were voiced over many months by U.S. weapons inspectors in Iraq, the commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, CIA officials and others.

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Key Quotes:

"No information has emerged thus far to suggest that Saddam did try to employ al-Qaeda in conducting terrorist attacks."

"The undermining of the administration's case for war is potentially a grave threat to Bush, whose reelection prospects are closely tied to Americans' view of the merits of the Iraq war and whether it advances the fight against terrorism."

"Nothing in this report absolves the White House of its responsibility for mishandling of the country's intelligence. The fact is that when it comes to national security, the buck stops at the White House, not anywhere else."

"Policymakers should not be immune from the decision on what to do."