Group: White House misused Iraq intel

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Before the U.S.invasion of Iraq, White House officials exaggerated what the intelligence community was saying about weapons there, a research group said.

The National Security Archive said Wednesday that congressional investigations have concluded that the Bush administration mischaracterized intelligence reports before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

In a statement, the non-profit research group points to the CIA's white paper on "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Program," which was supposedly based on the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE.

The National Security Archive said drafts of that paper existed in July 2002, "long before the NIE was even requested by Congress," and noted that there are few differences between the draft and final version of the paper.

The group also said U.S. intelligence agencies' use of information from the anti-Saddam Hussein exile group Iraqi National Congress "most likely flows directly from the prodding ... by high levels at the Pentagon and White House."