Actually they did have weapons of mass destruction. All of the official government documents can be found here on this website. On the website documents are available in the original pdf format. I especially like document 15.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/
Key documentation related to the controversy that has become available in recent months makes up almost of all of the 14 additional documents contained in this updated briefing book. These records include:
- The full Top Secret key judgments section of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction (Document 15)
- The CIA-DIA evaluation of two specialized tractor-trailers (Document 32)
- Reviews by the British parliamentary committees concerning the quality and use of intelligence on Iraq by the British government (Document 34, Document 36)
- David Kay's unclassified statement on the ISG's interim findings (Document 39)
- Congressional critiques of U.S. intelligence performance (Document 37, Document 41)
- Administration rebuttals of those and other critiques. (Document 35, Document 38, Document 40, Document 43).
firstly thanks for bringing something to the table instead of blanket statements. I read through these items you listed and while it is obvious that Iraq did have some small scale weapon development it would be a stretch to call any of it a WMD.
"In addition, Kay summarized some of the Survey Group's discoveries, which included: a clandestine network of laboratories and safe-houses controlled by the Iraqi Intelligence Services containing equipment suitable for CBW research; reference strains of biological organisms concealed in a scientists home; documents and equipment hidden in scientists' homes that could be used for resuming uranium enrichment activities; and a continuing covert capability to manufacture fuel propellant useful only for prohibited SCUD missiles."
these could be better classified as government sponsored terrorist cells. They do not list anything definitive. These guys could be studying e. coli and you can download blueprints of nuclear weapons right now that would qualify you for the same thing these scientists are being accused of.
The article you especially liked seems to refute your claim.
"The quality of the intelligence analysis has also come under scrutiny. The failure to find weapons stocks or active production lines, undermining claims by the October 2002 NIE and both President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell (Document 16, Document 27), has been one particular cause for criticism. Controversy has also centered around specific judgments - in the United States with regard to assessments of Iraq's motives for seeking high-strength aluminum tubes, and in the United Kingdom with respect to the government's claim that Iraq sought to acquire uranium from Africa. Post-war evaluation of captured material, particularly two mobile facilities that the CIA and DIA judged to be biological weapons laboratories, has also been the subject of dispute. (Note 5)"
although it does have a picture of a very small plant that is claimed to be a chlorine/phenol plant, in reality it could be anything, the amount of chlorine or phenol a facility of this size would not be a large scale threat. Chemical weapons of this type have been used since WWI and are only potent over small areas where the concentration of the element can be high enough to cause any real damage. The article also brings up the hilarious example of aluminum tubes. there was an article on the news just a couple days ago saying that these same types of tubes can be used for many different things including making bicycles and melted/mixed with other metals to produce cans.
to say that Iraq was a global threat is laughable, I am sorry.
edit, read some more and while it is possible that they had mobile facilities, i still stand by my claim that while the country was obviously run by a dickhead, they were not a global threat. Russia still has tons of anthrax stockpiled for "research" as well as real WMDs. I am not saying that Iraq wasnt on its way to being a problem, but its pretty obvious that the world was lied to or that our govt ran with some bad intelligence.
I dont see Iran as a threat. I really just think they are trying to move ahead with technology the US abandoned 40 years ago to move their country up in the world. We didnt have these problems when India went nuclear.