The head of the U-S Central Intelligence Agency says analysts never said Iraq posed an imminent threat before last year's US-led war.
C-I-A Director George Tenet says intelligence analysts believed Iraq had certain types of illegal weapons and was trying to develop others.
But he cautioned that U-S agents had trouble penetrating the Saddam Hussein regime, and that intelligence is almost never entirely right or wrong.
Mr. Tenet's speech in Washington today (Thursday) was aimed at critics of U-S intelligence used to justify the war against Saddam's regime.
Earlier this week, the former chief U-S weapons inspector -- David Kay -- said he believes there are no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq.
Mr. Tenet today denied that he was pressured to manipulate intelligence on Iraq and said President Bush asked that the facts to be presented directly and honestly.
He said the information he had before the war strengthened his belief that Saddam Hussein posed a danger and that he conveyed this belief to Bush Administration officials in late 2002.
Mr. Tenet also said U-S investigators need more time to search for evidence of Iraqi weapons and weapons programs.
Speaking in South Carolina on Thursday, President Bush acknowledged that banned weapons have yet to be found. But he repeated his assertion that the United States did the right thing by taking action in Iraq.
Critics accuse the Bush Administration of presenting a narrow view of pre-war intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat and justify the invasion.