Kennedy Says Case for Iraq War Was Fraud
By STEVE LeBLANC, AP

BOSTON (AP) - The case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud "made up in
Texas" to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said
Thursday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy also said the Bush
administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is
costing each month. He said he believes much of the unaccounted-for money is
being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops.

He called the Bush administration's current Iraq policy "adrift."

The Massachusetts Democrat expressed doubts about how serious a threat Saddam
Hussein posed to the United States in its battle against terrorism. He said
administration officials relied on "distortion, misrepresentation, a selection
of intelligence" to justify their case for war.

"There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in
January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going
to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed that
only about $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent monthly on the war can be
accounted for by the Bush administration.

"My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political
leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops," he said.

Of the $87 billion in new money requested by President Bush for the war,
Kennedy said the administration should be required to report back to the Congress
to account for the spending.

"We want to support our troops because they didn't make the decision to go
there... but I don't think it should be open-ended. We ought to have a benchmark
where the administration has to come back and give us a report," he added.

Kennedy said the focus on Iraq has drawn the nation's attention away from
more direct threats, including al-Qaida, instability in Afghanistan or the
nuclear ambitions of North Korea.

"I think all of those pose a threat to the security of the people of
Massachusetts much more than the threat from Iraq," Kennedy said. "Terror has been put
on the sidelines for the last 12 months."

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