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Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq a US lie
United Nations, July 15: UN former weapons inspector Scott Ritter said today that US statements about Iraq possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction before launching war on Saddam Hussein regime were a `lie.`
United Nations, July 15: UN former weapons inspector Scott Ritter said today that US statements about Iraq possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction before launching war on Saddam Hussein regime were a "lie."
"The entire case the Bush administration made against Iraq is a lie," Ritter told reporters, also criticizing the media for being too willing to accept the Weapons of Mass Destruction allegations as justification for war.
"What was the basis of the affirmation by (US Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld? he said there are Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq -- nobody asked him to prove it. The press just printed it. We have now to demand the proof," Ritter said.
"Is it going to be as obvious as the uranium? I don't know," said Ritter, in reference to a US claim Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from Africa.
US Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet has taken the blame over the claim, made publicly by President George W Bush in his January 28 state of the union address. Tenet said on Friday the information should not have been included in the address because it had not been corroborated by US intelligence.
Ritter, a former intelligence officer in the US Marines once dubbed a "cowboy" by UN officials for what they called his intrusive inspection procedures, headed up the inspections team in Iraq from 1991 to 1998.
He resigned in August 1998, citing a lack of UN and US support for his tough disarmament methods, which rattled the Iraqis.
Bureau Report
"What was the basis of the affirmation by (US Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld? he said there are Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq -- nobody asked him to prove it. The press just printed it. We have now to demand the proof," Ritter said.
"Is it going to be as obvious as the uranium? I don't know," said Ritter, in reference to a US claim Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from Africa.
US Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet has taken the blame over the claim, made publicly by President George W Bush in his January 28 state of the union address. Tenet said on Friday the information should not have been included in the address because it had not been corroborated by US intelligence.
Ritter, a former intelligence officer in the US Marines once dubbed a "cowboy" by UN officials for what they called his intrusive inspection procedures, headed up the inspections team in Iraq from 1991 to 1998.
He resigned in August 1998, citing a lack of UN and US support for his tough disarmament methods, which rattled the Iraqis.
Bureau Report