Niger evidence too weak for UN presentation

Andrew Buncombe and Kim Sengupta of the Independent report that Colin Powell "did not mention the alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal in his now famous presentation to the UN Security Council because he 'did not think it was strong enough' - even though President George Bush included it in his State of the Union address just a week before."

The evidence served a nice propaganda function on the domestic front, so it was used. In the international arena, such brazen claims would detract from Powell's "credibility," so they were scuttled.