IRAQ WMD?

SFgate: CIA asked to explain prewar reports
Congresswoman warns of spy 'hoax'

President Bush's contention that America went to war with Iraq to rid Saddam Hussein of hidden biological and chemical weapons "could be the greatest intelligence hoax of all time," the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee warned Friday.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Rancho Palos Verdes (Los Angeles County), has sent a letter along with Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., the Intelligence Committee chairman, to CIA Director George Tenet asking him to explain what intelligence led spy agencies to believe Iraq had stocks of the banned weapons or that al Qaeda operated on Iraqi territory.

"U.S. credibility is at stake," Harman told the Chronicle editorial board on Friday. "Especially if there is an interest in another military adventure, we need the facts."