CIA investigating whether there EVER were WMDs

[Almighty Colin]

I'd be a little hesitant to jump from "investigating" to "concluding". The CIA investigates a lot of things.

"The CIA is investigating the accuracy of the Bush administration's conclusions that Iraq represented an imminent and direct threat to the United States. " What's the big deal?

Completely logical. Either:

A. Weapons of mass destruction will be found
B. Weapons of mass destruction will not be found.

If A, game over.

If B, either:
a. There is a plausible explanation such that WMD's were moved or recently destroyed
b. Evidence was erroneous
c. Evidence was overly speculative
d. Evidence was out-dated
e. Evidence was exaggerated
f. Other perturbations

I seriously doubt anyone here would consider it outside the realm of possibility that Saddam would hide and move banned weapons but if I'm wrong, please say so. Does anyone doubt that Saddam Hussein is capable of such deception?

It has been a consistent policy of this administration to prevent the proliferation of WMD's in the world and their marriage to terrorism. There were thousands of analysts the world over that thought Saddam had illegal weapons and his continual noncompliance with the UN and the weapons inspectors did nothing to convince anyone, especially presidents Clinton and Bush that he was in compliance.

I'm sorry but no one had to lie to anyone about anything. It's been thought by plenty enough analysts in that line of work (Ken Pollock for example) and many at the CIA that Saddam had chemical weapons and the will to use them. Many people have been convinced that Saddam never destoyed all his WMD capabilities and armaments and that was not and is not any stretch of logic to believe he didn't.

Lest we forget a number of interviews with defecting Iraqi scientists and other information led analysts to these conclusions since well before Bush even became president and they are a matter of public record. None of this "Iraq has WMD's" is new and none of it was new to the Bush administration. This struggle over WMD's with Saddam had been going on for more than a decade and very consistently so.

Most of those GFYers you mention PD thought Bush would cowboy the US to a loss in Iraq. One of them even mentioned 75,000 Americans coming home in body-bags. Those same GFYers were predicting tens of thousands of dead US soldiers (from Iraqi chemical weapons no less).

I didn't find Powell's presentation embarassing nor did I find it perfect. It was presentation of evidence. I for one PD, and I'm sure you'll remember this, never bought into the al-Qaeda/Iraq connection. It's a different matter entirely as to whether Bush and Blair believed or believe it though.

Clinton, Clinton, Clinton. I think Clinton had the best response for Iraq for 1998 and Bush had the best response for Iraq for 2003. I'm not so sure Bush would have went to war in Iraq pre-9/11 and I'm not so sure Clinton wouldn't have not went to war in 2003. I think Al Gore would have. Pollack's book - for what it's worth - says Gore was very hawkish on Iraq during his tenure at VP and was one of the biggest voices for action against Iraq during that administration.

I don't think anyone could have built a coalition for this war. France and Russia were immovable objects. Period. Their national interests made it prohibitive for them to be in a coalition. China maybe could have been swayed but if not by Colin Powell, by whom and under what conditions? How could they have benefitted.

This war has turned out better than anyone thought especially with the dire predictions surrounding urban combat. For any faults we may find in what the administration was wrong about they were also right about even more things that surprised many of us. Half of this board thought the administration was lying about the lack of will of the Iraqi military to fight, about the progress being made during the war, about supply lines
etc. No millions of refugees, humanitarian crises, or expansion of the war.
The "outcome was never in doubt". Historic war and everyone will have to adjust their perceptions of US military strength and military doctrine will now evolve.

For all the predictions of the UN falling apart and the end of international relations it seems quite evident to me that international relationships are being mended and will be quite normal soon enough.