When I asked Condoleezza Rice, the national security advisor, where did this come from, it turns out the vice president's office had written it.CIA analyst Nada Bakos has stated that the speech's language differed from what the CIA prepared for Powell and from the copies the CIA received in advance of the presentation.

What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.Powell claimed that Iraq harbored a terrorist network headed by al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (in a small region controlled by Ansar al-Islam).

He also claimed that Iraqis visited Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and provided training to al-Qaeda members, although thousands of Arabs from many countries did the same.

US intelligence agencies have found no evidence of any substantive collaboration between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

[6] Although the presentation failed to change the fundamental position of the Security Council, including France, Russia, China, and Germany, Powell succeeded in hardening the overall tone of the United Nations towards Iraq.

[12] The New York Times Magazine considered the speech one of the most indelible public moments of the Bush administration.