NY TIMES - Powell's Case, a Year Later: Gaps in Picture of Iraq Arms

Even one of the most compelling sections of Mr. Powell's presentation, satellite photographs of suspected chemical weapons sites, appears to have been misjudged. The suspicious-looking movement at several sites of what were believed to be decontamination vehicles and trucks covered with tarps more likely involved more benign commercial activity; inspectors found no evidence of weapons production.
The administration's evidence, according to the interviews, was much more accurate in the arena of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles: very active programs were under way for both. The missiles clearly violated range limits set by the United Nations, and Mr. Hussein was trying to buy better technology from North Korea.
"There are still millions of documents that have yet to be examined, thousands of scientists and former government officials yet to be thoroughly debriefed, and countless possible hiding sites which have yet to be searched," the senior intelligence official said. "We find it puzzling that those who say the intelligence community reached its conclusions on limited evidence are reaching opposite conclusions on even less."
Dr. Kay rejected [Paul Krugman's] charges that policy makers pressured analysts to bend their assessments to fit the administration's need to justify the coming war. He said he had talked to a number of C.I.A. analysts involved in the prewar intelligence reports, and none ever told of pressure by the administration to shape reports.
One part of Mr. Powell's presentation holds up well: his assertion that Mr. Hussein was desperately trying to build missiles with a range to go far beyond the 90-mile limit set by the United Nations after the 1991 war.
When inspectors re-entered Iraq in November 2002, they reported "a surge of activity" since their last inspections more than four years earlier. Dr. Kay reported that detained scientists talked of efforts to build missiles with ranges upwards of 600 miles, enough to hit Israel and American troops in the region. There was discussion of missiles that could carry chemical weapons.

FOXNews.com - McCain Wants Independent Intel Investigation

Parting company with many of his fellow Republicans, Sen. John McCain (search) said Thursday he wants an independent commission to take a sweeping look at recent intelligence failures.
The White House has dismissed the proposal, saying the CIA is committed to reviewing the intelligence behind claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration also argues that the weapons search is not yet complete.

Glenn Beck - What Did The Democrats Say About Iraq's WMD?

Excerpts:

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

Hill Probers Fault Iraq Intelligence (washingtonpost.com)

The House and Senate intelligence committees have unearthed a series of failures in prewar intelligence on Iraq similar to those identified by former weapons inspector David Kay, leading them to believe that CIA analysts and their superiors did not seriously consider the possibility Saddam Hussein no longer possessed weapons of mass destruction, congressional officials said.

Democrats for Bush

"even as New Hampshire Democrats were going to the polls to vote for their favorite antiwar antagonist, a plane was landing in Al Gore's home state of Tennessee with 55,000 pounds of material from Libya's nuclear weapons program to be tested. It turns out that all these months that Howard Dean and John Kerry and their pals were condemning George W. Bush's decision to hold Saddam Hussein accountable, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was getting the message that he had better say goodbye to his weapons programs, or he might be dragged from a hole as Saddam was."

Charles Krauthammer: What David Kay really said

"All the analysts I have talked to said they never felt pressured on WMD,'' says Kay. "Everyone believed that (Iraq) had WMD.''
Including the Clinton administration. Kay told The Washington Post that he had found evidence that Saddam had quietly destroyed some biological and chemical weapons in the mid-1990s -- but never reported it to the U.N. Which was why Clinton in 1998 declared with great alarm and great confidence that Iraq had huge stockpiles of biological and chemical arms -- "and some day, some way, I guarantee you, he'll use the arsenal.''

CNN.com - U.S. general: Capture is 'strong proof' al Qaeda in Iraq

The U.S.-led coalition struck a blow in the war on terrorism with the capture of an al Qaeda operative in Iraq, a top U.S. military official said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez discussed the arrest of Hasan Ghul, who was seized last week along the Iran-Iraq border.
"The capture of Ghul is pretty strong proof that al Qaeda is trying to gain a foothold here to continue their murderous campaigns," Sanchez said. "Ghul's capture is great news for the Iraqis, for the coalition and for the international community's war against terrorism."
"With the Hasan Ghul arrest, we know that there are some couriers" for al Qaeda in the country, Sanchez said. "We believe there are some fundamentalist terrorist linkages with the former regime at the tactical level. We believe there are efforts to strengthen those linkages."

Reuters - Iraq Minister Says Saddam's WMD Carefully Hidden

Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Thursday Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction had been carefully hidden, but he was confident they could be discovered.
"I have every belief that some of these weapons could be found as we move forward," Zebari, an Iraqi Kurd, told a news conference in Sofia. "They have been hidden in certain areas. The system of hiding was very sophisticated."
"We as Iraqis have seen Saddam Hussein develop, manufacture and use these weapons of mass destruction against us. He hasn't denied that."

CNN.com - Analysts: Hutton a relief for Blair

"The allegation that I or anyone else lied to this House (of Commons) or deliberately misled the country by falsifying intelligence on WMD (weapons of mass destruction) is itself the real lie," Blair said.

CNN.com - Transcript: David Kay at Senate hearing

In my judgment, based on the work that has been done to this point of the Iraq Survey Group, and in fact, that I reported to you in October, Iraq was in clear violation of the terms of [U.N.] Resolution 1441.
Resolution 1441 required that Iraq report all of its activities -- one last chance to come clean about what it had.
We have discovered hundreds of cases, based on both documents, physical evidence and the testimony of Iraqis, of activities that were prohibited under the initial U.N. Resolution 687 and that should have been reported under 1441, with Iraqi testimony that not only did they not tell the U.N. about this, they were instructed not to do it and they hid material.

CNN.com - Ex-Iraq inspector: Prewar intelligence failure 'disturbing'

Kay told the senators that the intelligence he had seen before the war indicated Saddam had banned weapons and that France and Germany -- countries that had opposed the war -- had stated that the Iraqi dictator possessed such weapons.
"It turns out we were all wrong, and that is most disturbing," Kay said.
Kay said that while it was "theoretically possible" large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons could be found in Iraq, the prospect was "highly unlikely."
He said he did not believe that anyone had pressured intelligence officials to conclude that Saddam's government had banned weapons.

NY Times - Ex-Arms Monitor Urges an Inquiry on Iraqi Threat

David A. Kay, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, called on Wednesday for an independent inquiry into prewar intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, but he said he did not believe that the Bush administration had pressured intelligence analysts to exaggerate the threat.

Washington Times - Iraqi govt. papers: Saddam bribed Chirac - (United Press International)

Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday.

Guardian Unlimited - Angry Blair claims vindication

A furious Tony Blair today declared himself totally vindicated by Lord Hutton's report and turned on his attackers, demanding apologies from both the BBC and the Conservatives.
Speaking to a packed, tense and tribal House of Commons chamber minutes after the law lord delivered his conclusions, the prime minister demanded retractions from the BBC for suggesting he misrepresented intelligence and the Conservatives for saying he was behind the leaking of Dr David Kelly's name.

BBC - BBC chairman quits over Hutton

"BBC chairman Gavyn Davies has resigned in the wake of Lord Hutton's criticisms of the corporation's reports.
He quit after Lord Hutton said the suggestion in BBC reports that the government "sexed up" its dossier on Iraq's weapons with unreliable intelligence was "unfounded."

Debra Saunders: Kerry's 'last resort'

"Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., can't give a credible explanation as to why he voted against the Persian Gulf War in 1991 but then for a 2002 resolution that authorized the use of force in Iraq, even though he now opposes how President Bush is conducting the war."

Jonah Goldberg: Straightforwardness would defuse WMD issue

"the idea that the president lied to the American people hinges on - at least - one almost impossible fact: that George W. Bush knew for a certainty that the intelligence agencies of America, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Australia, as well as the United Nations and countless independent experts were all wrong."

AP - Kay to Testify About Iraqi WMD Search

Former top U.S. weapons inspector David Kay is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee Wednesday

Instapundit.com: "THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE LIED"

"An August 2002 report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Iraq 'almost certainly does have large numbers of chemical weapons and some biological weapons.'"

Classical Values: Unsettling update on an unsettled issue

Supposedly discredited reports about the connections between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein just won't die...