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Skepticism on bushs weapons claims grow { May 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030521/ap_on_go_pr_wh/iraq_the_weapons_mystery_2 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030521/ap_on_go_pr_wh/iraq_the_weapons_mystery_2 Yahoo! News Thu, May 22, 2003 White House - AP Skepticism on Bush's Weapons Claims Grows Wed May 21, 1:54 AM ET Add White House - AP to My Yahoo! By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - CIA (news - web sites) Director George Tenet warned last fall that if the United States attacked Iraq (news - web sites), President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) might hand off his forbidden weapons to Islamic terrorists for a counterattack. Some analysts say that scenario cannot be ruled out now that that 60 days of searches by U.S. troops have produced scant evidence of the doomsday weapons Saddam supposedly had. Did they wind up in the hands of terrorists? Charles Pena of the CATO Institute said if Tenet's speculation was correct, it would be the ultimate irony because, he said, the whole point of invading Iraq was to prevent Saddam from passing his weapons on to the al-Qaidas of the world. There are more benign theories for the lack of progress in finding weapons. Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation said Saddam may simply have decided to hide the armaments. Or, he said, perhaps Saddam destroyed them to leave U.N. weapons inspectors with no smoking guns and thus diminish the possibility that President Bush (news - web sites) would make war against him. (The inspectors came up empty-handed, but Bush attacked anyway.) To Brookes, it matters little whether weapons are found. "The important thing is that we've eliminated the regime's capacity to use these things," he said. But, politically, the administration is eager for firm evidence of Saddam's arsenal because its existence was the main justification for the war. Pictures of American troops standing astride a chemical weapons depot would go a long way toward silencing critics, including those who believe intelligence agencies doctored evidence to support the administration's claims about Saddam's weapons. Some Democratic presidential candidates who backed the war are seizing on the administration's missing weapons problem. Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), D-Conn., writing an opinion piece Monday in The Boston Globe, said, "Before the war began, I urged the president to form task forces to swiftly locate and secure all suspect sites the moment the shooting stopped. "To those of us who supported Saddam's removal, this was a critical priority. Yet it was not done, and the failure to do so might someday be measured in American lives." Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) told a German interviewer last Friday he believes it's just a matter of time before weapons turn up. "We are flooding it (Iraq) with inspectors, we are flooding it with experts who will look in every place that one can look in to find documents and to get evidence of their programs of weapons of mass destruction. And we're quite sure we'll find it," he said. He said two vans discovered recently in Iraq may have contained equipment designed for biological warfare. The equipment is being tested. Joseph Cirincione, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agrees that more time is needed. But, he said, "It's obvious that the WMD program did not exist on the scale that the administration claimed. If it did, we would have seen it by now." Beyond that, he said, large numbers of Iraqis would be volunteering information to American search teams about where the weapons were made and where they are being hidden. Still, Cirincione finds the absence of firm answers to be frustrating. "What the heck happened there?" he asked. Bush professes no alarm. "We'll find them, and it's just going to be a matter of time to do so," the president said earlier this month. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The Associated Press since 1968.

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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