HflIH ZONE EMU Fountain Courf Free massage therapists Cholesterol screening* Quit tobacco info* Energy Healing* Stress management info Movement activities (*Wed. only) Arts and Crafts Knit-in* Music Relaxation tapes Table games march 1*112001 Counseling and Testing Center ZONE Resource Room Happy Lamps (S.A.D. Lights) Massage Chair Computers Music/Videos Warm Tea Oregon Hall ZONE: Office of Student Life and Office of Multicultural Affairs Dog petting Lego land Play-dough o stress tree lavs 1ME- IN T-Ht Sponsored by the University Counseling & Testing Center, university of Oregon office of Student Life, Office of Multicultural Affairs, University Health Center if V : | ' f , ■ ' ■ u f * • I Discussion and Book Signing 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11 UO Bookstore FREE This international classic delivers practical tips and techniques to help athletes of all levels improve performance through mental awareness and preparation. Visit UOBookstore.com for more information. UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE CIA director fights Cheney assertions George Tenet said recent claims by Vice President Dick Cheney that Iraq had ties with al-Qaida are false By Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday rejected re cent assertions by Vice President Dick Cheney that Iraq cooperated with the al-Qaida terrorist network and that the administration had proof of an illicit Iraqi biological warfare program. Tenet's comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee are like ly to fuel friction between the White House and intelligence agencies over the failure so far to find any of the banned weapons stockpiles that President Bush, in justifying his case for war, charged Saddam Hussein with concealing. Tenet at first appeared to defend the administration, saying he did n't believe the White House mis represented intelligence provided by the CIA. The administration's statements, he said, reflected a prewar intelli gence consensus that Saddam had stockpiled chemical and biological weapons and was pursuing nuclear bombs. But under sharp questioning by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Tenet reversed himself, saying there had been instances when he had warned administration officials they were misstating the threat posed by Iraq. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you what my interaction was ... and what I did and didn't do, except that you have to have confidence to know that when I believed that somebody was misconstruing intel ligence, I said something about it," Tenet said. "I don't stand up pub licly and do it." Tenet admitted to Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee's senior Democrat, that he had told Cheney the vice president was wrong in say ing two truck trailers recovered in Iraq were "conclusive evidence" Saddam had a biological weapons program. Cheney made the assertion in a Jan. 22 interview with National Public Radio. Tenet said U.S. intelligence agencies still disagree on the purpose of the trailers. Some analysts believe they were mobile biological-weapons fa cilities; others think they may have been for making hydrogen gas for weather balloons. Levin also questioned Tenet about a Jan. 9 interview with the Rocky Mountain News, in which Cheney cited a November article in the Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, as "the best source of in formation" on cooperation between Saddam and al-Qaida. The article was based on a leaked top-secret memorandum. It purport edly set out evidence, compiled by a special Pentagon intelligence cell, that Saddam was in league with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. It was writ ten by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, the third-high est Pentagon official and a key propo nent of the war. "Did the CIA agree with the con tents of the Feith document?" asked Levin. "Senator, we did not clear the docu ment," Tenet replied. "We did not agree with the way the data was char acterized in that document." Tenet, who pointed out the Penta gon, too, had disavowed the docu ment, said he learned of the article Monday night, and he planned to speak with Cheney about the CIA's view of the Feith document. In building the case for war, Bush, Cheney and other top officials relied in part on assessments by the CIA and other agencies. But they con cealed disputes and dissents over Iraq's weapons programs and links to terrorists that were raging among analysts, U.S. diplomats and mili tary officials. They also used exaggerated and fabricated information from defec tors and former Iraqi exile groups that was fed directly into Cheney's office and the Pentagon. Those groups included the Iraqi National Congress, whose leader, Ahmad Chalabi, was close to hawks around Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and the White House, but who was distrusted by the CIA and the State Department. Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the mili tary's main intelligence arm, said "some" information provided by de fectors had checked out, but they also gave material that was "fabricated or embellished." Bush has appointed a bipartisan commission to investigate what the CIA and other intelligence agencies knew about prewar Iraq, but would n't permit the commission to exam ine how intelligence was used by the White House and the Pentagon. In formation from Iraqi defectors and exile groups, who contended Sad dam was a great threat, also was ruled off-limits. Politics pervaded Tuesday's hear ing. Democrats sought to prove Bush and his top aides overstated prewar intelligence assessments of the threat posed by Saddam. Repub licans insisted the administration's arguments reflected the CIA's judg ment, the views of most lawmakers and those of the former Clinton ad ministration. "Members of this committee, members of the Senate, as well as past and present administrations reached the same conclusions: Saddam Hus sein possessed weapons of mass de struction," said Sen. John Warner, R Va„ the panel chairman. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the De mocratic presidential candidate, and other critics are linking the issue to Bush's credibility as the election cam paign heats up and the toll of dead and injured U.S. soldiers rises. (c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Friday during the school year by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.The Emerald operates inde pendently of the University with of fices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private prop erty. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by faw. ■ < • < NEWSROOM — (541)346-5511 Editor in chief: Brad Schmidt Managing editor: Jan Tobias Montry Freelance editor: Jennifer Sudick News editors: Jennifer Marie Bear, Ayisha Yahya Senior news re porter: Jared Paben News reporters: Nika Carlson, Lisa Catto, Chelsea Duncan, Chuck Slothower Pulse editor: Aaron Shakra Senior Pulse reporter: Ryan Nyburg Pulse reporter: Natasha Chilingerian Pulse columnists: Helen Schumacher, Carl Sundberg Sports editor: Hank Hager Senior sports reporter: Mindi Rice Sports reporters: Jon Roetman, Jesse Thomas Editorial editor: Travis W-illse Columnists; Jessica Coie»Hodgkin-» son, Peter Hockaday, David Jagernauth, Aimee Rudin Illustrators: Steve Baggs, Eric Layton Design editor: Kimberly Premore Senior designer: Tanyia John son Designers: Mako Miyamoto, Kari Pinkerton Photo editor: Danielle Hickey Senior photographer: Adam Amato Photographer: Lauren Wimer Part-time photographers: Erik R. Bishoff, Tim Bobosky Copy chiefs: Kim Chapman, Brandi Smith Copy editors: Tarah Campi, Stefanie Contreras, Sean Hanson, Rebekah Hearn, Ben Pepper Online editor: Erik R. Bishoff Webmaster: Eric Layton BUSINESS — 346-5512 General manager: Judy Riedl Business manager: K^thy Carbone Beceptionist: Sarah Go-. . . . racke Distribution: Megan Anderson, Mike Chen, John Long, Matt O’Brien, Holly Rockwell, Ben Turner ADVERTISING — DISPLAY 346-3712 CLASSIFIED 346-4343 Director: Melissa Gust Sales manager: Michelle Chan Sales representatives: Sav Banerjee, Army Feth, Patrick Gilligan, Megan Hamlin, Kim Humphries, Alex Hurliman, Tyler Mack, Shannon Rogers, Katherine Vague Assistant: Thomas Redditt Special publications and classified manager: Hilary Mosher Associates: Liz Carson, Liz Conant, Katy Cooney, Sabrina Gowette, Keri Spangler PRODUCTION — 346-4381 Manager: Michele Ross Production coordinator: Tara Sloan Designers: Jen Cramlett, Kristen Dicharry, Matt Graff, Andy Holland, Marissa Jones, Jonah Scbrogia . . ..