Powell: Bush Right to Assume Iraq Had WMDs

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Wednesday, July 21, 2004 11:08 p.m. EDT

Powell: Bush Right to Assume Iraq Had WMDs

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that President Bush was correct to believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. attacked in March 2003.

"The intelligence picture that was presented to the Congress, presented to me, presented to the president by the intelligence community led the president to the conclusion - the correct conclusion - that you had to assume that these weapons were there," Powell told a national radio host.

"And the president acted on that knowledge," he added.

But Powell said he doubted a report earlier today that three nuclear warheads had been uncovered by Iraqi officials in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, "I'd be surprised if they found any such thing." quoted Powell.

Powell also said he was concerned about reports that former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger had removed top secret documents from the National Archives that were earmarked for review by the 9/11 Commission.

"It's a very serious matter," he said, adding that he expected Berger to cooperate with Justice Department probers.