What ya'll think about this?
No Iraqi WMD, But Bush Calls War Right
While the search has now ended without finding the weapons he had warned of, the President said invading was still the proper course.
By Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged yesterday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had shut down without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Bush's spokesman said the President had no regrets about invading Iraq.
"Based on what we know today, the President would have taken the same action," press secretary Scott McClellan said, "because this is about protecting the American people."
The Iraq Survey Group - made up of as many as 1,500 military and intelligence specialists and support staff - is ending its search of military installations, factories and laboratories where it was thought that equipment and products might be converted to making weapons.
McClellan said that at a meeting last month, Bush thanked the chief U.S. weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, for his work. A special adviser to the CIA director, Duelfer will deliver a final edition of a report on Iraq's weapons next month. McClellan said it was not expected to fundamentally differ from the findings of a report last fall.
Duelfer said then that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and had not made any since 1991. However, he said the government harbored intentions of re-creating its weapons programs and had gone to great lengths to manipulate the U.N. oil-for-food program.
In an interview yesterday with Barbara Walters of ABC News, Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq.
"I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction - like many here in the United States, many around the world," Bush said in the interview, to be broadcast tomorrow night. "We need to find out what went wrong in the intelligence-gathering... . Saddam was dangerous and the world is safer without him in power."
In a statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Bush "needs to explain to the American people why he was so wrong, for so long, about the reasons for war."
When asked whether the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would damage U.S. credibility in handling future threats, McClellan said the President would continue to work with the international community, particularly on diplomatic solutions. He said preemptive military action was "the last option" to pursue.
At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said the government was paying stipends to about 120 Iraqi scientists who once worked in weapons programs. They now are working on scientific research outside weapons development.
Greg Thielmann, the former manager of the State Department office that tracked chemical, biological and nuclear weapons issues, said the United States should devote energy to employment of these scientists, who now appear to have been involved in nonweapons work under Hussein in recent years.
"Who knows what they are going to do?" asked Thielmann, who left his position in September 2002. "One can question whether we improved the security situation through the invasion."
No Iraqi WMD, But Bush Calls War Right
While the search has now ended without finding the weapons he had warned of, the President said invading was still the proper course.
By Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged yesterday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had shut down without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as a justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Bush's spokesman said the President had no regrets about invading Iraq.
"Based on what we know today, the President would have taken the same action," press secretary Scott McClellan said, "because this is about protecting the American people."
The Iraq Survey Group - made up of as many as 1,500 military and intelligence specialists and support staff - is ending its search of military installations, factories and laboratories where it was thought that equipment and products might be converted to making weapons.
McClellan said that at a meeting last month, Bush thanked the chief U.S. weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, for his work. A special adviser to the CIA director, Duelfer will deliver a final edition of a report on Iraq's weapons next month. McClellan said it was not expected to fundamentally differ from the findings of a report last fall.
Duelfer said then that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and had not made any since 1991. However, he said the government harbored intentions of re-creating its weapons programs and had gone to great lengths to manipulate the U.N. oil-for-food program.
In an interview yesterday with Barbara Walters of ABC News, Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq.
"I felt like we'd find weapons of mass destruction - like many here in the United States, many around the world," Bush said in the interview, to be broadcast tomorrow night. "We need to find out what went wrong in the intelligence-gathering... . Saddam was dangerous and the world is safer without him in power."
In a statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Bush "needs to explain to the American people why he was so wrong, for so long, about the reasons for war."
When asked whether the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would damage U.S. credibility in handling future threats, McClellan said the President would continue to work with the international community, particularly on diplomatic solutions. He said preemptive military action was "the last option" to pursue.
At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said the government was paying stipends to about 120 Iraqi scientists who once worked in weapons programs. They now are working on scientific research outside weapons development.
Greg Thielmann, the former manager of the State Department office that tracked chemical, biological and nuclear weapons issues, said the United States should devote energy to employment of these scientists, who now appear to have been involved in nonweapons work under Hussein in recent years.
"Who knows what they are going to do?" asked Thielmann, who left his position in September 2002. "One can question whether we improved the security situation through the invasion."
