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If anything, it was an effective conspiracy by the Iraqi government to make foreign intelligence agencies believe that Iraq had nuclear weapons or was close to

If anything, it was an effective conspiracy by the Iraqi government to make foreign intelligence agencies believe that Iraq had nuclear weapons or was close to having them. It's entirely rational for someone in Saddam's position to want foreign governments (and not just western ones but Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran as well) to believe he possesses nuclear weapons. Israel plays this game too, with its policy of strategic ambiguity. Saddam miscalculated how U.S. and U.K. policy makers would re-evaluate this ambiguity in the wake of September 11th. In the wake of that miscalculation, North Korea's leadership has been pursuing an upgraded version of his strategy, with unambiguous demonstrations of actual nuclear weapons and ICBMs. Time will tell whether that clarity will prevent a war on the Korean Peninsula or precipitate it. At any rate the existence of WMD, in general, rather than nuclear weapons in particular, was never in doubt, and stockpiles were found in Iraq and disabled or destroyed. You may remember some of the hand-wringing about Isis overrunning some of the chemical weapons facilities containing sealed bunkers of damaged sarin and mustard gas shells. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Banner&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middlee...

ern 9y ago
The chemical weapon remnants uncovered were from before the first Gulf War (1991). FTA: The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support the government’s invasion rationale. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bush insisted that Mr. Hussein was hiding an active weapons of mass destruction program, in defiance of international will and at the world’s risk. United Nations inspectors said they could not find evidence for these claims. AND American government issued a detailed analysis of Iraq’s weapons programs. The widely heralded report, by the multinational Iraq Survey Group, concluded that Iraq had not had an active chemical warfare program for more than a decade. The justification for the invasion was an active weapons program, which didn't exist. When people refer to the "WMDs" they refer to this non-existent program, rather than rusty old munitions.

ern 9y ago

The chemical weapon remnants uncovered were from before the first Gulf War (1991). FTA: The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support the government’s invasion rationale. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bush insisted that Mr. Hussein was hiding an active weapons of mass destruction program, in defiance of international will and at the world’s risk. United Nations inspectors said they could not find evidence for these claims. AND American government issued a detailed analysis of Iraq’s weapons programs. The widely heralded report, by the multinational Iraq Survey Group, concluded that Iraq had not had an active chemical warfare program for more than a decade. The justification for the invasion was an active weapons program, which didn't exist. When people refer to the "WMDs" they refer to this non-existent program, rather than rusty old munitions.