No one ever claimed he had a functional nuclear weapon at the time of the US led invasion. Only that he was trying to pursue one and was close. We all assumed he had chemical and biological WMD. He did. He had even used them in the past. But he did not have large stockpiles. Concerning the nuclear weapons, he needed the centrifuges to make the partially enriched uranium into highly enriched uranium to actually produce a weapon. Apparently, Libya has admitted assisting Saddam off site with this process. Can we at least assume that Saddam was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon ? Was the Israeli destruction of Saddam's French built reactor, warranted ?
If Libya destroyed their nuclear program, that would also eliminate the nuclear material through which that tell tale nuclear signature could be made. If Libya was refining Iraq's yellow cake and shipping the final product to Iraq, one could establish the chain of production if one could get samples to retrieve that signature which would implicate Libya as a collaborator.
"Can we at least assume that Saddam was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon ? Was the Israeli destruction of Saddam's French built reactor, warranted ?"
If you're asking whether Saddam was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon in 1981, when the Israelis bombed Osirak, then the answer is clearly yes. Not sure what that has to do with more recent events though.
Which invasion? GW I or GW II?