How sure were they?

As the Bush administration is now having to backpedal a bit and admit they may not be able to find any WMD, it's important for it to be clear just how certain he, and his coalition partner Tony Blair, were that those weapons were there and were an immediate danger. The Times Online (UK) has published an article reviewing some of the recent "excuses" that Geoff Hoon, the British Defense Secretary has offered as to why Saddam didn't make use of his WMD during the war and why we're having such difficulty locating evidence of any. It also contains a nice selection of quotes from various officials, made prior to the war, about just how certain they were that Iraq had these weapons.

“If we know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him?” “It (Iraq regime) possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons . . . we know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, and VX gas” -- George Bush, October 7, 2002

“We are dealing with a very real threat today, that of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction” -- Geoff Hoon, March 10, 2003

“His (Saddam Hussein’s) regime has large, unaccounted-for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and he has an active programme to acquire and develop nuclear weapons” -- Donald Rumsfeld, January 20, 2003

“Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.

“In fact, they (Iraqi regime) can produce enough dry biological agent in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people. “Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions, and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents. If we consider just one category of missing weaponry, 6,500 bombs from the Iran-Iraq war. . . Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tonnes of chemical-weapons agent. Even the low end of 100 tonnes of agent would enable Saddam Hussein to cause mass casualties across more than 100 square miles of territory, an area nearly five times the size of Manhattan” -- Colin Powell, address to the UN Security Council, February 5, 2003

“It is right (going to war) because weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, are a real threat to the security of the world and this country” -- Tony Blair, House of Commons, January 15, 2003

“What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme.

His (Saddam Hussein’s) military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them.” -- Tony Blair, Foreword to Iraq “dossier”