emitchell asked

Do you agree with President Bush's chief of staff when he says prewar intelligence a ‘moot’ point?

President Bush's chief of staff dismissed as 'a moot point' any lingering question about whether Bush relied on faulty intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. Andy Card also rejected charges from fellow Republican Newt Gingrich that the administration's postwar policies went 'off a cliff' after an impressive invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein's government. Overall intelligence has been 'very, very good,' Card said Sunday. But, he added, 'Intelligence is a collection of dots, and then an analysis on how those dots might be connected. Some of those dots may not be what they appear to be, and some of the connections may not have been what people would have suggested.' More than seven months after Bush declared major combat over, American inspectors have not found the weapons of mass destruction, which Bush accused Iraq of hiding and used as a major reason for going to war. Searchers have found quantities of chemicals and substances that could be used to make both weapons and legitimate civilian items. Card deflected questions about the intelligence that led Bush to issue the warnings that Iraq was a threat to the United States because of its illegal weapons. In October 2002, Bush said Iraq had 'a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for and is capable of killing millions.' 'When you go there today, and you see some of the mass graves of the dead, where he murdered his own people, you just can't help but think that we are much better off,' Card said on CNN's 'Late Edition.' 'So I think it's a moot point. The good news is Saddam is no longer a threat to his own people.' The White House has said repeatedly it believes such weapons eventually will be found, but Card did not repeat that prediction Sunday. 'We think there's evidence of some programs that they had,' he said. 'I can't speak to whether they were ongoing or not ongoing. All I can tell you is his intent was not very good.' In his first interview

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