I must defend the White House on this one though, well Powell more so than Condi.
Powell resigned during the first Clinton term. Had been out of the intelligence loop for a good 6 years, and just in office a month when he allegedly said this.
It still doesn't excuse him for saying it, if it wasn't true, but if we don't find WMD's, it is dreadful.
I don't see Powell going on tv saying he didn't know what he was talking about in Feb 2001, Saddam did have a robust program, one that we just can't find.
Obviously, the tape either exists or doesn't. We also need to see the context. I could construe his statement to saying that his technology is frozen. He isn't doing anything new, just some of the old crap. If this gets play here though, the White House will need to address this one.