a threat or not a threat...

From this URL
an interesting Slate quote

I quote:

Bushism of the Day

By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005, at 12:31 PM ET

mean, there was a serious international effort to say
to Saddam Hussein, you're a threat. And the 9/11 attacks
extenuated that threat, as far as
I am concerned."Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005

end of quote

The definition of "extenuated", taken from
extenuated is:

I quote:

extenuate

verb {T} FORMAL

to cause a wrong act to be judged less seriously by
giving reasons for it:
end of quote

My interpretation: This quote suggests that President Bush
the Younger said that "the 9/11 attacks" showed Saddam
Hussein to be less of a threat that previously thought...

Interesting and revealing, possibly a Freudian Slip???