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Blair admits wmds may never be found { July 6 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373519907&p=1012571727085 http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373519907&p=1012571727085 Blair admits Saddam's WMD may never be found By James Blitz and Stephen Fidler Published: July 6 2004 14:10 | Last Updated: July 6 2004 20:44 Tony Blair conceded for the first time on Tuesday that weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq, but continued to insist that Saddam Hussein had posed a grave threat. As the prime minister awaits the outcome of an independent report next week into whether UK support for the invasion of Iraq was justified by the underlying intelligence, he yesterday staged the most significant retreat from his firm conviction after the fall of Mr Hussein that the US-led coalition would find and publish evidence of WMD in Iraq. Appearing before the Commons liaison committee Mr Blair said he had been "very, very confident" chemical and biological weapons would be found in the country. "I was very confident when I spoke to you this time last year that the Iraq Survey Group would find them," he said. "I have to accept that we have not found them - that we may not find them. [Saddam Hussein] may have removed or hidden or even destroyed those weapons. We don't know." The prime minister told MPs that war had been justified because Mr Hussein had been in breach of United Nations resolutions and was a "proven threat to his region and the wider world". One year ago, Mr Blair told the Commons that the search for WMD was continuing and its results would be published. "I think that when we do so, the honourable gentleman and others will be eating some of their words," he told MPs at the time. Tuesday's retreat came a week before the publication of Lord Butler's report into the use of intelligence in the lead-up to war. Lord Butler's committee is expected to put the finishing touches to the report today, ahead of publication next Wednesday. Although it is keeping the verdict a closely guarded secret, it may well criticise the process by which the government's September 2002 dossier on Iraq's WMD was compiled. Lord Butler may also judge that the dossier spelled out the threat from Iraq's WMD in terms that gave too much credit to the underlying intelligence. Mr Blair's concession came on the eve of a long-awaited report by the US Senate intelligence committee that is expected to criticise the work of the Central Intelligence Agency before the war. The CIA's assessment that Iraq was seeking to import aluminium tubes for its uranium enrichment programme was central to the US case that Saddam Hussein was reviving his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons - though some US government analysts thought the tubes were destined for artillery rockets. The Senate committee's investigation has discovered that tests commissioned by the CIA from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed the tubes failing some of the high-velocity stress tests that nuclear parts should have passed.

tubes uranium weapons-declaration Blair admits weapons may never be found { January 12 2004 } Blair admits wmds may never be found { July 6 2004 } Blair decided regime change april 2002 despite rhetoric { May 2 2005 } Blix accuses fabricating evidence { April 12 2003 } Blix report doubts wmd { June 2 2003 } British doctored wmd dossier { May 29 2003 } Bush declines to back call for intelligence probe Bush jokes about finding wmds Bush says war worth it despite no wmds Bush says weapons will be found Chemical weapons plant created after invasion { August 14 2005 } Children play with uranium tubes Cia condemned for flawed intelligence Cia operative asked to falsify wmd report { December 9 2004 } Classified study doubts weapons in 2002 Documents concerning uranium came from italy { October 25 2005 } Fbi says profit motivated italian uranium forgery Germ trailer evidence rejected { June 7 2003 } GWB_WMD_Memo [pdf] Inspector reports iraq had no WMD Iraq declared al samoud missiles { April 29 2003 } Iraq destroyed wmd 1995 Iraq may have destroyed wmd { May 27 2003 } Kay blames cia for no wmd Kurds help find wmd lab { May 7 2003 } Mccain picked for iraq intelligence probe Might have to be planted New inspections to plant weapons { April 8 2003 } New reports on us planting wmds in iraq No firm evidence banned weapons { April 7 2003 } No reliable evidence of iraqi weapons { June 6 2003 } No reliable information wmd { June 6 2003 } No weapons found in iraq says report No wmd found but { February 14 2003 } No wmds found in iraq { September 24 2003 } Nuclear program materials still buried { June 26 2003 } Officer refused falsify wmd reports Panel assails CIA for failure on iraq weapons { March 29 2005 } Powell says new data may have affected war decision { February 3 2004 } Powell says wmd stocks wont be found Powell says wmd un speech blot on record Presidential report is critical of intelligence agencies Questions on blair intelligence { April 21 2003 } Report says intel on wmd was dead wrong { March 31 2005 } Rockefeller says weapons should been found { May 29 2003 } Saddam had no weapons in 2003 { October 6 2004 } Saddam says wmd excuse for war Scientist says arms kept till war { April 21 2003 } Scientist surrenders says no wmd Search for wmds in iraq ended last month { January 12 2005 } Sen Durbin jan 26 06 on iraq wmds [mp3] Sen Durbin jan 26 06 on iraq wmds Senate panel blames bad iraq intelligence on CIA Senators told iraqi weapons could hit east coast Seniors sources ruled out finding wmds { July 10 2003 } Skepticism on bushs weapons claims grow { May 22 2003 } Smoking gun wmd site just pesticide Task force unable find wmd { May 11 2003 } Team hunting iraq WMD ends its search { January 12 2005 } Test barrels nerve agent Us adds teams hunt { April 27 2003 } Us not inspected iraq nuclear facility { April 25 2003 } US team concludes saddam had no wmd { April 26 2005 } Us withdraws team of weapons hunters { January 8 2004 } Usa and uk lied war pretext Usa will falsify wmd Weapons hunter quits says doubts they exist Wmd intelligence was falisified { February 15 2004 } Wmd proof [jpg] Files Listed: 69

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