It’s time for the Bush administration to stop parsing words and for Congress to uphold its responsibility for government oversight.

During his State of the Union address, President Bush spoke of efforts by Iraq to purchase uranium from Africa. He created a chilling picture of a world in which Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear weapons and a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.

In short order, Bush moved to connect Saddam with al-Qaida. From his State of the Union speech: “Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly and without fingerprints he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists or help them develop their own.

“Before September 11, 2001, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses, and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained.”

The Bush administration created a convincing case for war with Iraq. Time and again, polls showed that the American people believed that Iraq had large quantities of weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam was even behind the attacks of Sept. 11, the latter an unjustified contention.

But a new poll released last week by CBS News shows growing doubt about the nature of the threat Iraq posed to the United States. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed now say that the Bush administration overestimated Iraqi weapons, and the solid majority of Americans who thought Iraq was a threat requiring immediate military action has slipped to just 43 percent.

The changes in public opinion are warranted as more and more evidence points to exaggerations during the prelude to war.

The Bush administration has admitted that references to the attempted purchase of uranium should not have been included in the State of the Union. A former diplomat, Joseph C. Wilson, debunked the allegations almost a year before the president spoke before Congress.

And now, the always tenuous ties between Saddam and al-Qaida are being reputed publicly by intelligence professionals.

The Associated Press quotes former State Department intelligence official Greg Thielmann: “There was no significant pattern of cooperation between Iraq and the al-Qaida terrorist operation.”

None of this suggests Saddam was not a threat to world security and a hindrance to peace in the Middle East. He surely was. What it does suggest is the Bush administration made a concerted effort to build a case against Iraq that was as compelling as possible. Has U.S. intelligence become politicized? Did the administration purposely mislead Congress and the American people? Or was it, as the administration says, “A mistake about a single sentence, a single data point”?

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, making the rounds on Sunday morning news programs, said the situation was overblown, “end of story.”

We don’t think so. It’s time that Congress begins an investigation of the war with Iraq and the circumstances leading up to it.

Again quoting from the president’s State of the Union: “Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a President can make. … This Nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come.”

For these very reasons, it is imperative that the country learn the truth about how we find ourselves ruling over a humbled, but still extremely dangerous, Iraq. Congress should begin hearings without delay.
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