Originally posted by Last Conformist
Really? Post-war, I've heard quite a few intelligence people express embarassment that they didn't realize that Saddam hadn't any WMD. I have heard few or none say they they didn't think there was any, despite that this would seem a convenient thing to claim today.
In short, I have very little reason not believe that most of the Western intelligence community honestly thought Saddam had illicit weapons and/or programmes. Can you point me to anything to convince me otherwise? Or am I to conclude you do not think they were "in the know"?
Really? Post-war, I've heard quite a few intelligence people express embarassment that they didn't realize that Saddam hadn't any WMD. I have heard few or none say they they didn't think there was any, despite that this would seem a convenient thing to claim today.
In short, I have very little reason not believe that most of the Western intelligence community honestly thought Saddam had illicit weapons and/or programmes. Can you point me to anything to convince me otherwise? Or am I to conclude you do not think they were "in the know"?
Most of the western intelligence community seems to have believed Saddam had kept a discreet WMD programme, IIRC (which is why there were so many inspections) and Saddam's behaviour favoured such belief. But there was no indication that the programme was intense enough to provide an "imminent threat", which was the American justification to explain that war was
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