Rice Defends Going to War Despite Dispute About Iraqi Weapons: "Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, on Sunday defended the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein even while intelligence analysts disputed an important piece of evidence behind a rationale for the war, namely, that Iraq was rebuilding its nuclear weapons program.
'Whatever the case there, ' Ms. Rice said on the ABC News program 'This Week' with George Stephanopoulos, referring to a debate in 2002 over whether Iraq's efforts to acquire aluminum tubes were related to nuclear weapons, 'I stand by the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein and remove this threat to American security.'
Ms. Rice also said she was aware of the dispute in September 2002, when she stated in a television interview that the tubes 'are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs.' But, she said Sunday, it was not until after that television appearance that she learned 'the nature of the dispute.' "
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