Bush: 'My Job Is Not To ‘Defend Our NIE.’

Thinkprogress:

When the intelligence community concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003,

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said that President Bush “accepted the results of the NIE.” Earlier this week, Perino again insisted that Bush had never expressed “anything but support” for the NIE’s findings.
Yet in an interview with Fox News that aired last night, Bush made clear that he doesn’t share the NIE’s conclusions. While he admitted that the intelligence officials were probably “sincere” in what they wrote, he refused to say whether he believed them:

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you believe — in December there was an intelligence report that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program as of 2003. Do you believe that?

BUSH: I believe that the intelligence professionals are very sincere in their analysis. That should not say to people that Iran is not a threat. […]
I believe they want a weapon, and I believe that they’re trying to gain the know-how as to how to make a weapon under the guise of a civilian nuclear program. He then added that “frankly,” it “should not be for me to have to defend our NIE.”