Saddam's WMD Deception

A recent New York Times article (link here) has revealed that Saddam Hussein informed his generals just three months before the U.S. invasion that Iraq did not possess any unconventional weapons, such as biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. Apparently Saddam's tactic of "deterrence through doubt" was an attempt to deprive enemies of hard evidence of WMD capabilities, while also introducing enough doubt as to their existence to make enemies hesitate before thinking of an invasion.

In an article at RealClearPolitics.com, ex-mayor of New York Ed Koch takes these revelations as a final refutation of the anti-war left's claims that Bush misled the American public in the run-up to war (article here). Koch argues that if even Saddam's closest generals were kept in the dark, there is no way that American intelligence could have known that Saddam had rid himself of WMDs. While this makes sense in describing why it was legitimate to have doubts as to Saddam's compliance in destroying his WMDs, it still leaves Bush's administration guilty of vastly exaggerating their certainty regarding Saddam's programs. Both in Colin Powell's presentation before the UN Security Council, and in many statements by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, it was stated that the exact locations and quantities of Saddam's WMDs were known -- this was obviously exaggerated. Bush's administration repeatedly feigned certainty and acted as if they had concrete evidence of large WMD stockpiles in Iraq, and Koch completely ignores this in pleading Bush's innocence in the matter. Contrary to Koch's demands, those who opposed the invasion need not apologize -- it is the President who should answer for his behavior in starting the war in Iraq.