Bush rebuffs calls for independent probe on Iraq

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said yesterday "I want to know the facts" about any intelligence failures concerning Saddam Hussein's alleged cache of forbidden weapons, but he declined to endorse calls for an independent investigation.

The issue of an independent commission has blossomed into an election-year problem for the president, with Democrats and Republicans alike supporting the idea. David Kay, the former chief weapons inspector, has concluded that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, which Bush had cited as a rationale for going to war against Iraq.

Bush said he wants to be able to compare the administration's prewar intelligence with what will be learned by inspectors who are now searching for weapons in Iraq. There is no deadline for those inspectors -- the Iraq Survey Group -- to complete their work.

"One thing is for certain, one thing we do know . . . Saddam Hussein was a danger, he was a growing danger," the president told reporters during a brief question-and-answer session after a meeting with economists.

Parting company with many of his fellow Republicans, Senator John S. McCain said Thursday he wants an independent commission to take a sweeping look at recent intelligence failures.

Some of the Democratic candidates for president said Thursday they support an independent commission. Howard Dean criticized Vice President Dick Cheney, saying that he berated CIA operatives because he did not like their intelligence reports.