Reply #1: Pretty much the whole story in a nutshell

[DrBB]

Indeed, the proposed narrative for Powell went something like this, according to an official involved in the preparation for Powell's speech: Saddam had his procurement agents, who are virtually all over the world, attempt to acquire software that would give him very sophisticated mapping of the eastern United States, allowing him to program a missile with a high degree of accuracy.

But the whole scenario "fell apart like a toothpick house" once Powell and his aides asked for the sourcing on the information, the official said. Upon closer inspection, several officials said, it turned out that Iraq had not sought the software, but that an Australian firm had offered it. The software, meanwhile, apparently produced maps not much better than those sold at gas stations.
</snip>

But the NIE included a dissent to this conclusion that, after the war, would be considered correct: The Air Force intelligence arm, the specialist on UAVs in the US government, strongly argued that the primary role of these aircraft was reconnaissance, "although CBW delivery is an inherent capability."

Air Force officials have said the last phrase was added during negotiations in crafting the NIE, though they viewed the possibility as highly unlikely.

Gee, no evidence of the WH pushing the intelligence here. "Negotiations" with WHOM? Hm? We've got a story here that Cheney/Rummy/Wolfie were eager to believe, even though it fell apart under rudimentary scrutiny. Do they abandon it? Of course not. Despite the efforts of Powell and the relevant intel agencies themselves the *admin--or somebody--"negotiates" to keep some version of it going: We can say CBW delivery is possible, can't we? I mean, it is possible right? Why can't we put that in there?

I don't care if you're God's own dyed in the wool conservative--anyone who doesn't see through this arrant nonsense that "It was the intel agencies that let the President down" is either willfully self-deluded, well below subnormal in IQ, or both.