Bush accepts blame for uranium claim, defends decision on Iraq.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Bob Kemper

WASHINGTON _ After weeks of shifting blame to others, President Bush on Wednesday took personal responsibility for misleading Americans about Iraq's attempts to acquire uranium for a nuclear bomb but maintained that the ultimate decision to go to war was based on "good, solid, sound intelligence."

"I take responsibility for everything I say, of course. Absolutely," Bush said of the claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa. The White House has since admitted that the CIA had warned prior to the speech that the uranium claim was based on faulty intelligence.

Bush, in a rare solo news conference in the White House Rose Garden, offered a robust defense of his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, whose credibility was questioned amid accusations that the White House had purposely exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq to justify an invasion.

"Dr. Condoleezza Rice is an honest, fabulous person and America is lucky to …