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Rumsfeld Denies Rift Exists Between Pentagon and C.I.A. October 25, 2002 By THOM SHANKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld went to great lengths today to describe a collegial, cooperative relationship between the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency, even as he noted "differences of opinions" over how to interpret data on terrorist cells and adversary states like Iraq. "It is an excellent relationship between the Department of Defense and the intelligence community," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "There are always going to be people who have different intelligence views within the agency, and there's no question but that on some of these important terrorism issues, you're seeing differences of opinions out of the intelligence community and the Central Intelligence Agency," he added. Mr. Rumsfeld said the Pentagon's senior leaders ask tough questions of the intelligence reports they receive, but he described the debate as "effective interaction." He spoke at an afternoon news conference that his aides said was organized specifically to respond to reports of rifts between the Pentagon's senior civilian leaders and the C.I.A., and to counter those who say Mr. Rumsfeld and his advisers are trying to mold intelligence findings to bolster those in the administration who advocate attacking Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld cited an editorial in The New York Times on Wednesday that called on him to present what he described as "bulletproof" evidence of links between Al Qaeda and Iraq, and also an article today in the newspaper describing an intelligence unit at the Pentagon assigned to mine reports from other spy agencies for information on Al Qaeda and Iraq that had been missed or ignored. Advocates of the unit's work say its assignment is to use powerful computers and new software to mine for data on the capacities of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and of his suspected ties to terrorist groups - information that might have been diluted or even ignored by intelligence analysts who do not believe in the severity of the Iraqi threat. But critics have said the team is at work finding only information that fits the most hawkish views on Iraq and risks politicizing the intelligence process. Should America go to war to topple Mr. Hussein, then public support requires a full and fair discussion of the evidence against the Iraqi leader, the critics say. Mr. Rumsfeld said today that information he cited last month on Iraq's links to Al Qaeda was "bulletproof" because it was compiled and vetted by the C.I.A. "When I said something was bulletproof, I was referring to the five or six sentences that I had read here off of a piece of paper which I'd received from the agency," he said. Mr. Rumsfeld had cited information indicating that contacts between Al Qaeda and Iraq stretched back a decade and had increased since 1998, that Qaeda members had been in Baghdad, and that Al Qaeda had sought help in acquiring weapons of mass destruction from Iraq. Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, said that when he or Mr. Rumsfeld testify in closed-door hearings of Congress, they draw directly on texts prepared by the C.I.A. so that the administration can present a unified view on threats to national security. Mr. Wolfowitz said the work of the new Pentagon intelligence unit was responsive to specific questions from Pentagon officials and that it was valuable as another source of information. "I don't think that the facts that may be uncovered by people who think there is more of a connection are the reliable facts, and the facts that are uncovered by people who think there isn't one are unreliable facts," Mr. Wolfowitz said. "I just think that the two different perspectives will give you different sets of information, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be dependent on only one or the other." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/international/25INTE.html?ex=1036601029&ei=1&en=8488dbbbf3a832c0 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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