United States: 'Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction'

Sunday Herald ^ | May 4, 2003 | Neil Mackay

[Rebecca Silhavy]

The Bush administration has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction. Senior officials in the Bush administration have admitted that they would be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.

According to administration sources, Saddam shut down and destroyed large parts of his WMD programmes before the invasion of Iraq.

Ironically, the claims came as US President George Bush yesterday repeatedly justified the war as necessary to remove Iraq's chemical and biological arms which posed a direct threat to America.

Bush claimed: 'Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. We will find them.'

The comments from within the administration will add further weight to attacks on the Blair government by Labour backbenchers that there is no 'smoking gun' and that the war against Iraq -- which centred on claims that Saddam was a risk to Britain, America and the Middle East because of unconventional weapons -- was unjustified.

The senior US official added that America never expected to find a huge arsenal, arguing that the administration was more concerned about the ability of Saddam's scientists -- which he labelled the 'nuclear mujahidin' -- to develop WMDs when the crisis passed.

This represents a clearly dramatic shift in the definition of the Bush doctrine's central tenet -- the pre-emptive strike. Previously, according to Washington, a pre-emptive war could be waged against a hostile country with WMDs in order to protect American security.

Now, however, according to the US official, pre-emptive action is justified against a nation which simply has the ability to develop unconventional weapons.

[k2blader]

Who are these "senior officials"?

[adam_az]

Failure to Find Saddam Proves He Never Existed

(2003-05-03) -- Six weeks after the invasion of Iraq, Pentagon officials
are quietly beginning to acknowledge that their failure to find Saddam
Hussein may be proof that the Iraqi leader never existed.

"We hate to admit it," said one unnamed official, "One of our main reasons
for going in there was regime change. You know...overthrow a brutal
dictator who tortured his own people. But at this point, we're not sure
there ever was a Saddam Hussein. After all, if we don't have him dead or
alive...who's to say?"

The military official said that the statues, murals and videos of Saddam
Hussein are "circumstantial evidence which don't prove anything."

"I try to look on the bright side," he added. "Maybe we'll luck out and
find a few chemical weapons so the war won't have been a total waste."

Experts agree that evidence of actual atrocities against Iraqis lacks the
news value that potential atrocities against Westerners would have.

[Desecrated]

BS sensors red lining on this one. This reads odd. Waiting for further confirmation from NAMED administation sources.

[Question_Assumptions]

If Saddam didn't have WMD, then he is stupider than he looked. Why thwart inspections if you have nothing to hide?

[MEG33]

Good question!

[templar]

You know, I'm still waiting to see some real, genuine, authenticated, machine guns from Waco. Or drugs. Or verifiable evidence of child molestation. Or even the front door to the Davidian's home.

[k2blader]

*LOL*

[Poohbah]

Paging the Viking Kitten Sniper Unit.

Registered April 18th, 2003, and this is the second post ever.

Can y'all say "TROLL?"

[piasa]

ROTFL!

[diamond6]

I agree. This is absolute GARBAGE! Even Mr. Magoo couldn't account for the chemical weapons they were documented to have, and for which there was no evidence they destroyed.

[piasa]

Carville and Begala

[Grampa Dave]

So Rebecca since you posted this, how do you feel about this article?

[k2blader]

Woop, there it is. :-D

[firewalk]

(-:

[piasa]

Saddam Hussein was a Nazi, you idiot.

[k2blader]

Ping!

[k2blader]

Haa!!

[Rocko]

How was your fifteen seconds of fame?