BURNING BUSH: PANTS ON FIRE

'Saddam in the bunker' informant killed in strike, but Bush pretends the 'brave soul' is still alive

A Central Intelligence Agency officer reported, based primarily on information provided by satellite telephone from an Iraqi source, that Mr. Hussein was in an underground bunker at the site. That prompted President Bush to accelerate the timetable for the beginning of the war, giving the go-ahead to strikes by precision-guided bombs and cruise missiles, senior intelligence officials said.

But in an interview last summer, Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, of the Air Force, who directed the air campaign during the invasion, acknowledged that inspections after the war had concluded that no such bunker existed.
Various internal reviews by the military and the C.I.A. have still not resolved the question of whether Mr. Hussein was at the location at all.
In the raid, the Air Force primarily used deep-penetrating munitions because of their ability to destroy an underground bunker. The person who was the primary source of the information about the bunker was killed in the raid, according to intelligence officials.

HOWEVER

An interview of President Bush by Tom Brokaw of NBC News aboard Air Force One: New York Times, April 25, 2003. In which Tom Brokaw seems to know that the "asset" was no longer around to talk about whether a certain arabic word meant bunker or refuge or hospital...

Q That human intelligence that we had on the ground, did you hear back from him, I presume?
THE PRESIDENT: We did.
Q And did he --
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like we got Saddam.
Q He did?
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like that, yes. And we're trying, of course, to verify. And before there's any declaration, of course, there will be a lot of evidence.
Q Did you see that famous television video of Saddam the next day, in the glasses, reading out from the notepad and so on?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, yes. I was amused by that, almost as amused by that as I was his PR man -- it was one of the classics -- probably helping NBC Saturday Night Live out mightily, but through his -- it was just unbelievable what he was saying.
But, you know, the people that wonder if Saddam Hussein is dead or not, there's some evidence that says, suggests he might be. We would never make that declaration until we were more certain. But the person that helped direct the attacks believes that Saddam, at the very minimum, was severely wounded.
Q That night?
THE PRESIDENT: That night, yes.

... AND LATER ...

Q I don't want you to give up sources and methods, but the guy who called in the first time -- still with us?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, he is. He is with us. Thank God. A brave soul.
Q That's great.