NewsMine — war-on-terror — iraq — pretext — wmd — Viewing Item

Seniors sources ruled out finding wmds { July 10 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3054549.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3054549.stm Last Updated: Thursday, 10 July, 2003, 07:53 GMT 08:53 UK Iraq weapons 'unlikely to be found' Senior UK Whitehall sources no longer believe weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq, the BBC has learned BBC political editor Andrew Marr said "very senior sources" in Whitehall had virtually ruled out the possibility of finding the weapons. They believe they did exist - but were hidden or destroyed by Saddam Hussein before the war. Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the admissions were a "dramatic development" and ex-Prime Minister John Major has called for a full independent inquiry into the basis for war. Mr Cook, who resigned as leader of the Commons in the run-up to the war, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Parliament voted for war because it was told that Saddam did have real weapons of mass destruction. It is essential that the word of government and the intelligence services is readily accepted by Parliament and the public John Major Former premier "Indeed what the prime minister said on the eve of the war was that the weapons posed a real and present danger, either because [Saddam] might use them or because he might pass them to terrorist groups." He said it would have been better to have given the UN weapons inspectors more time to finish their job, rather than rushing to war. "We would now know what we're being told, that Saddam did not have those weapons... and we'd have found out without a war in which thousands were killed." If the arms existed but had not been found by coalition forces, he added, officials should be "unable to go to sleep at night" for fear the weapons could be falling into terrorists' hands. US admission Earlier, Downing Street said the prime minister stood by what he told a Commons committee. Mr Blair told MPs then: "I have absolutely no doubt at all that we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction programmes." However, reporters noted his careful language, referring to weapons programmes rather than the weapons themselves. The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Making his inquiry call, Mr Major said he had supported the war, partly because he knew Iraq had possessed weapons of mass destruction in the early 1990s. Like many others, he had accepted the government's warnings but said "quite a few" of those alerts were now being questioned. "It has to be cleared up because it is in the government's interest to clear it up," said Mr Major. "We are in the middle of the war against terror and nobody knows what our troops may be asked to do next. "It is essential that the word of government and the intelligence services is readily accepted by Parliament and the public." The latest twist in the weapons row came as the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted the US had had no fresh intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before going to war. But it saw existing information in a new light after September 11, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he said weapons would eventually be found in Iraq. Paper proof Andrew Marr stressed that government and Whitehall figures were "still sure" Iraq did have major weapons of mass destruction programmes before the war. "The assumption is that Saddam Hussein for whatever reason destroyed them or hid them beyond finding before the war started," he told Today. "And there's no doubt also in their minds that they will turn up interviews with scientists, paper documentation and so on. "But nobody's been killed by paper documentation ever, and it does change the nature of things." It was still possible the Iraqi Survey Group - a team of experts tasked with looking for evidence of weapons - might turn up some weapons, he said. "But they're clearly now preparing the ground for that not to be the case." Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell urged the government to "come clean" about whether it believed weapons would be found in Iraq. Both the Conservatives and Lib Dems want an independent inquiry, headed by a judge, into the pre-war intelligence. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3054549.stm Published: 2003/07/10 07:53:58 GMT © BBC MMIII

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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