Both officials disputed suggestions that the administration had exaggerated intelligence to build a larger coalition, or to win domestic support for a war.

But many men say the administration is exaggerating the possibility of danger as a way to scale back participation.

And if you're a former hawk who now concedes that the administration exaggerated the threat from Iraq, you're to be applauded for your open-mindedness.

Criticism of Calderón's handling varied from early claims that his administration was not doing enough to later claims that the administration had exaggerated the measures that it had taken.

Mr. Bush will simply not engage the issue of whether his administration exaggerated the Iraqi threat in the months leading up to the American invasion.

Union leaders say the administration is exaggerating fiscal problems to gain concessions.

Democrats said the administration was exaggerating the scale of the problem and undermining one of the pillars of economic progress in recent years.

The fast-paced developments also promised to renew attention on the underlying issues of whether the administration had exaggerated the Iraq threat before the war and sought to discredit critics of its foreign policy.

In doing so, the administration exaggerated the number of POWs at issue, at one point stating that there were "fifteen hundred American servicemen" held throughout Southeast Asia.

Critics who live near the site said the administration was exaggerating, that the project could be reduced, that the complex was out of scale with the neighborhood and would cast a large shadow.