BBC : US to release leaked Iraq report

US to release leaked Iraq report

September 26, 2006

US President George W Bush has said he will declassify parts of a leaked report that apparently concludes that the Iraq war has fuelled terrorism.

"Some people have guessed what's in the report and concluded that going in to Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree," Mr Bush said.

He said the key judgements of the National Intelligence Estimate would be made public as soon as possible.

Key members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have urged declassification.

"I think it's a mistake for people to believe that going on the offence against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe," Mr Bush said.

The leaked excerpts were published by the New York Times on Sunday.

The paper quoted the report as saying the invasion and occupation of Iraq has spawned a new generation of Islamic radicalism that has spread across the globe.

The president criticised the leak of the report, which he said was intended to influence Congressional elections due in November.

Mr Bush has consistently dismissed such reasoning in the past, arguing that Islamic militants had hated the US long before it invaded Iraq or Afghanistan.

'Army dispute'

The intelligence leak was followed by reports suggesting that the head of the US Army, Gen Peter Schoomaker, had refused to submit his annual budget to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in protest at a lack of funds for essential supplies and weapons.

Gen Schoomaker, who recently told Congress that he needed more funding, missed an August deadline for the budget, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He was seeking $138.8bn (£73bn) for 2008, the newspaper said, some $25bn (£13bn) more than the maximum budget allocation.

Most of the money required for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has come from special requests authorised by Congress.

The army says increased responsibilities in preventing terrorism and a need to replace equipment and procure new defence systems justify the extra spending.