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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] > US: 'Saddam Had No Weapons of Mass Destruction' > By Neil Mackay > Sunday Herald (Australia) > > Monday 5 May 2003 > > The Bush administration has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no > weapons of mass destruction. > > Senior officials in the Bush administration have admitted that they would > be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq. > > According to administration sources, Saddam shut down and destroyed large > parts of his WMD programmes before the invasion of Iraq. > > Ironically, the claims came as US President George Bush yesterday > repeatedly justified the war as necessary to remove Iraq's chemical and > biological arms which posed a direct threat to America. > > Bush claimed: 'Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. We will find > them.' > > The comments from within the administration will add further weight to > attacks on the Blair government by Labour backbenchers that there is no > 'smoking gun' and that the war against Iraq -- which centred on claims that > Saddam was a risk to Britain, America and the Middle East because of > unconventional weapons -- was unjustified. > > The senior US official added that America never expected to find a huge > arsenal, arguing that the administration was more concerned about the > ability of Saddam's scientists -- which he labelled the 'nuclear mujahidin' > -- to develop WMDs when the crisis passed. > > This represents a clearly dramatic shift in the definition of the Bush > doctrine's central tenet -- the pre-emptive strike. Previously, according > to Washington, a pre-emptive war could be waged against a hostile country > with WMDs in order to protect American security. > > Now, however, according to the US official, pre-emptive action is justified > against a nation which simply has the ability to develop unconventional > weapons. > > _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk