[justa-hairyape]

I dont recall anyone in the Bush administration claiming Saddam had operational Nukes prior to this current war. It was claimed that he had not properly documented destroying all of his functional chemical and biological WMD. These were the weapons he had previously been forced to admit possessing to the UN. It was also claimed that Saddam was actively seeking nuclear capabilites. That claim has now been vindicated by the top Iraqi scientist ordered to construct said nuclear weapons.

[piasa]

The Bush administration didn't say Iraq had operational nukes. Indeed, they said there was a need to act before such a time as iraq was able to field a nuclear weapon.

It was former UN inspector Scott Ritter who said Iraq had three technologically operational weapons needing only sufficient nuclear material to make them function.