Administration says Bush uranium statement accurate, but should have been cut

WASHINGTON — President Bush defended the quality of intelligence he receives as "darn good" despite an uproar over disputed reports that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa for nuclear weapons.

Bush said today he remained convinced that Saddam Hussein was attempting to develop a weapons program that threatened the world and justified the United States going to war against Iraq.

"Our country made the right decision," Bush said.

Bush spoke with reporters at the end of an Oval Office meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"When all is said and done the people of the United States will realize that Saddam Hussein had a weapons program," Bush said.

"I think the intelligence I get is darn good intelligence and the speeches I have given are backed by good intelligence," Bush said. However, the administration has acknowledged the uncertainty of remarks Bush made in his January State of the Union address about Iraq's alleged attempts to buy uranium in Africa.

Administration officials say the remark should not have been included in Bush's speech because it was based on British intelligence that was not confirmed by the United States.

"When I gave the speech the line was relevant," the president said. He noted that it was cleared by the CIA at the time, although doubts were subsequently raised.

CIA Director George Tenet said last week his agency was responsible for allowing the claim into Bush's Jan. 28 State of the Union address, and Fleischer indicated the White House had no interest in digging deeper into an incident that has embarrassed the administration.

"I think the bottom has been gotten to," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said earlier today. "No one can accurately tell you it was wrong. That is not known," he said.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, said the United States and Britain have intelligence that supports Bush's contention that Saddam Hussein sought uranium in from Africa nuclear weapons.

At the same time, both also said the intelligence falls short of the elevated standards necessary for a presidential address. They said Tenet had deleted a similar but more narrowly focused assertion from a Bush speech in Cincinnati three months earlier.