Intelligence about Iran for Bush is called weak

A presidential commission due to report to President George W. Bush this month will describe American intelligence on Iran as inadequate and not complete enough to allow firm judgments about that country's illicit weapons programs, according to people who have been briefed on the panel's work. The commission's sharp indictment of U.S. judgments on Iran follows a secretive 14-month review by the panel. Bush ordered it last year to assess the quality of overall U.S. intelligence about the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The expected criticism will come while increasingly sharp warnings from the Bush administration about what it says are Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons are being met with firm denials in Tehran. It says that its nuclear program is intended purely for civilian purposes. The nine-member panel, headed by Laurence Silberman, a retired federal judge, and Charles Robb, the former governor and senator from Virginia, is also expected to be critical of American intelligence on North Korea. [more]