Bush Admin Admits Plans to Interfere in Iraq Elections – Says They Never Actually Did It, Though

The Bush administration has admitted that President Bush authorized covert plans last year to support the election campaigns of Iraqis with close ties to the White House, but government and intelligence officials said yesterday the plan was scrapped before the January vote. Some officials with knowledge of the original proposal said the Bush administration backed down after congressional objections, but others cited concerns within the intelligence community that the effort was likely to backfire.