That isn't hindsight - I saw this going on in front of me at the time, and I saw how Bush was going to do it anyway, right, wrong, or indifferent. The proof of the pudding, which didn't surprise me, was they in fact could not find the WMD's.
What reports were coming thru to Bush? By whom were they penned? Do you mean Hans Blix, a virulent anti war zealot? Hell even he admitted Hussein was not cooperating with the supplying of documents to prove he destroyed what he claimed he had as WMD. If not Blix then who else? I find it amazing you would zero in on 1 or 2 people who took another view and ignore the hi profile people who agreed Hussein had the WMD and all the worlds intel agencies who backed them up
. You are long on opinion and short on facts, my friend and until you can supply me with names and links to real data supporting your claim, I'm really not interested in carrying this any further.
As far as I know, I don’t think there’s debate that Bush had intelligence info that questioned the continued existence of WMD’s. I think if you doubt that you could probably research it. After law school finals maybe I’ll do the same, but I think it’s a moot point. I don’t think that fact is seriously in question.
The real point here I think, as I've said, is not that the WMD thing wasn't being questioned, it's what W's motives were. That starts to be a somewhat subjective opinion based on how you interpret all the evidence you've got. I thought at the time Bush had already made up his mind and had his own reasons. When I look at his comments later, he seems to refer more to Saddam's slaughter of reportedly up to 300,000 Iraqi's. Probably one of his reasons, as I've said.
But, as I also said, you then do the kind of smart stuff Reagan would do: skillful and precise intelligence work with Iraqi patriots to depose him, not invade the country - that isn't what America does.
A lot of people like to think in terms of black or white, all good or all evil. Bush was a mixed bag IMO.
October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate:
The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), which says in its dissenting opinion: “The activities we have detected do not, however, add up to a compelling case that Iraq is currently pursuing what INR would consider to be an integrated and comprehensive approach to acquire nuclear weapons. Iraq may be doing so, but INR considers the available evidence inadequate to support such a judgment.
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/iraq-wmd.html
Oct 1, 2002 NIE... We lack specific information on many key aspects of Iraq's WMD programs. ....
“… The Director, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, US Air Force, does not agree that Iraq is developing UAVs primarily intended to be delivery platforms for chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents. The small size of Iraq’s new UAV strongly suggests a primary role of reconnaissance, although CBW delivery is an inherent capability.”
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jksonc/docs/nie-iraq-wmd.html