Prewar and Postwar Comments on Iraq Arms

Yahoo! news of all places has a convenient list of pre- and post-war excuses given by the administration for invading Iraq.

I just can't get over how the war rationale is now the defense of the honor of the oil-for-food program.

Visit this link to see the article on Yahoo! to vote and email it to your friends. Otherwise, read the entry for the quotes.

Prewar and Postwar Comments on Iraq Arms
Wed Oct 6, 7:42 PM ET

By The Associated Press

Statements by the Bush administration, before the war and after, on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs:

On his weapons programs in general:

BEFORE THE WAR

"Saddam Hussein is a man who told the world he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, but he's got them." -- President Bush, Nov. 3, 2002.

"If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today -- and we do -- does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?"_ Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.

"We know that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass murder even when inspectors were in his country. Are we to assume that he stopped when they left? The history, the logic, and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger." Bush, Sept. 12, 2002.

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." -- Vice President Dick Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002.

AFTER THE WAR

"We knew the dictator had a history of using weapons of mass destruction, a long record of aggression and hatred for America. There was a risk, a real risk, that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons or materials or information to terrorist networks. In the world after Sept. 11, that was a risk we could not afford to take" -- Bush on Wednesday.

On chemical weapons:

BEFORE THE WAR

"The Iraqi regime has in fact been very busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents"_ Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002.

"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas." -- President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.

AFTER THE WAR

"Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq. ... We removed a declared enemy of America who had the capability of producing weapons of mass murder." -- Bush, July 12, 2004.

"While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG (Iraq Survey Group) judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991.There are no credible indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter." -- Final weapons report, released Wednesday.

On biological weapons:

BEFORE THE WAR

"After 11 years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more." -- Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.

AFTER THE WAR

"We got it wrong. We have seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles." -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, Oct. 1, 2004.

"ISG found no direct evidence that Iraq, after 1996, had plans for a new BW (biological weapons) program or was conducting BW-specific work for military purposes. Indeed, from the mid-1990s, despite evidence of continuing interest in nuclear and chemical weapons, there appears to be a complete absence of discussion or even interest in BW at the presidential level." -- Final weapons report.

On nuclear weapons:

BEFORE THE WAR

"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program." Bush, October 2002.

"And they continue to pursue the nuclear program they began so many years ago." Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002.

"But we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Among other sources, we've gotten this from the firsthand testimony of defectors. ... Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon. Just how soon, we cannot really gauge." -- Cheney, Aug. 26, 2002.

AFTER THE WAR

Saddam Hussein "ended the nuclear program in 1991 following the Gulf War. ISG found no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart the program." -- Final weapons report.

•  Please consider

  reducing the full quote to an excerpt, and linking. And also prominently asking readers to vote on the yahoo site so more people will have a chance to see the article.

  by Carneades on Thu Oct 07, 2004 at 09:31:23 PM PDT

  •  I apologize.

    I meant to make it an excerpt; I am still learning this set up.  I have edited the entry.  Thanks.

    by ashleyGA on Thu Oct 07, 2004 at 10:20:04 PM PDT

    •  Welcome

      I haven't been here so long myself, but I've found dKos to be a friendly community  with a very high percentage of knowledgeable and thoughtful members.

      I've seen others asked to keep the text "above the fold" short to reduce clutter in Diaries View, so I thought I'd step in before one of the "old guard" had to.

      Glad to meet you. I have a lot of ideas for the "next generation" of community software, and some revolve around allowing more personal discussion. (No knock against the Scoop software, but it isn't set up to foster people getting to know one another beyond very publicly displayed comments.)

      I took a look at your diaries. It would sure be nice if you're on the mark about Georgia! The Electoral Vote Predictor makes it look like Georgia is as deeply entrenched for Bush as anywhere, but I wouldn't complain about a Kerry landslide.

      I'll watch for you online. Take care.

      by Carneades on Fri Oct 08, 2004 at 04:46:32 AM PDT