Editing Niger uranium forgeries (section)

== "Sixteen Words" controversy in 2003 State of the Union ==
In his [[2003 State of the Union Address|January 2003 State of the Union speech]], U.S. President George W. Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."<ref>{{cite press release
|publisher=The White House
|date=28 January 2003
|title=President Delivers 'State of the Union'
|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/print/20030128-19.html
|access-date=6 September 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711182333/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/print/20030128-19.html
|archive-date=11 July 2017
|url-status=live
|df=dmy-all
}}</ref> This single sentence is now known as "the ''Sixteen Words''".<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/20/sprj.irq.wmd.investigation/
|work=CNN |title=Bush's 16 Words Still Hotly Debated
|date=25 December 2003
|access-date=7 July 2008
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726064431/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/20/sprj.irq.wmd.investigation/
|archive-date=26 July 2008
|url-status=live
|df=dmy-all
}}</ref>
The administration later conceded that evidence in support of the claim was inconclusive and stated, "These sixteen words should never have been included." The administration attributed the error to the CIA.<ref name="TenetError">{{cite news
|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/sprj.irq.wmdspeech/
|first1=Jamie |last1=McIntyre |first2=David |last2=Ensor
|title=Tenet admits error in approving Bush speech
|date=25 December 2003
|access-date=7 July 2008
|work=CNN
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515194058/http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/sprj.irq.wmdspeech/
|archive-date=15 May 2008
|url-status=live
|df=dmy-all
}}</ref> In mid-2003, the US government declassified the 2002 [[National Intelligence Estimate]], which contained a dissenting opinion published by the US Department of State stating that the intelligence connecting Niger to Saddam Hussein was "highly suspect", primarily because State Department's intelligence agency analysts did not believe that Niger would be likely to engage in such a transaction due to a French consortium which maintained close control over the Nigerien uranium industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_chapter2.htm/ |title=Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815055753/http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_chapter2.htm |archive-date=15 August 2008 |author=Senate Select Committee on Intelligence |year=2004}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', when occupying troops found no evidence of a current nuclear program, the statement and how it came to be in the speech became a focus for critics in Washington and foreign capitals to press the case that the White House manipulated facts to take the United States to war. The ''Post'' reported, "Dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq–Niger claim was highly questionable."<ref>{{cite news |last=Eisner |first=Peter |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201777_pf.html/ |title=How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206064656/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201777_pf.html |archive-date=6 December 2017 |work=The Washington Post |date=3 April 2007}}</ref> With the release of the 2002 NIE report, the Bush administration was criticized for including the statement in the State of the Union despite CIA and State Department reports questioning its veracity.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}