WASHINGTON — The White House is strongly fighting back against a new book by a Bush administration critic who claims that the CIA forged a letter from Saddam Hussein's intelligence chief that gave credence to claims Iraq had links to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Ron Suskind, the former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of two highly critical books on the Bush administration, claims in his new book out Tuesday that the administration falsified a letter by then-director of the Iraqi intelligence service, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, to Saddam, describing the activities of Sept. 11 conspirators in Iraq.