President Bush reportedly “all but disowned” the recent National Intelligence Estimate in private talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
A report by Michael Hirsh in Newsweek magazine’s Jan. 21 issue makes that assertion, attributing it to a senior Bush administration official who accompanied the U.S. leader on his visit to the Middle East.
The article also states that when asked after Bush’s visit if he felt reassured on the Iran threat, Olmert told Newsweek, “I am very happy.”
The anonymous source said Bush briefed Olmert about the NIE, which concluded that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, a week before it was published and that “Bush told Olmert he was uncomfortable with the findings and seemed almost apologetic,” Newsweek reported.
