Two former CIA officials have come forward with firsthand accounts of the George W. Bush administration's attempts to misrepresent intelligence in order to justify the US invasion of Iraq. The officials, referred to by pseudonyms due to the sensitivity of their positions, spoke to Insider ahead of the 20th anniversary of the invasion.

According to the officials, the administration attempted to assert a connection between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaeda, despite evidence assembled by the CIA suggesting that no such connection existed. One example of this false connection was the supposed meeting between Mohamed Atta, the chief 9/11 hijacker, and Iraqi intelligence agents in Prague. Then-Vice President Dick Cheney falsely claimed on "Meet the Press" in December 2001 that the meeting was "pretty well confirmed."

The officials, with a combined service at CIA totaling more than four decades, explained that their role was to keep such "ridiculous notions under control." However, they faced pressure from the White House to provide a justification for the invasion, despite there being no intelligence that would change their opinion. The Bush administration was "very explicit" about its obsession with Iraq almost immediately upon taking power, said one official.

Although Saddam Hussein knew about al-Qaeda's presence in Iraq, there was no working relationship between the two entities, according to the officials. Instead, it was about surveillance. The officials added that the US decision to invade Iraq had already been made, and the administration was looking for "selling points" to justify the war publicly.

The officials also revealed that British intelligence realized early on that the US was going to invade Iraq, regardless of what intelligence analysts wrote. The US was moving its forces to the Middle East in large numbers, and British intelligence essentially said, "It doesn't matter what we write."

The US invasion of Iraq, which began on March 20, 2003, has been estimated to have cost the lives of approximately 300,000 people.

Bush, Cheney, and other officials did not immediately reply to requests for comment.