Non Fucked Copy:
a blogger

I still don't see anything from the major U.S. networks on this.

Colin Brown and Andy Smith:
'In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiate several UN security resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair must have known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He said that during his posting to the UN, 'at no time did HMG [Her Majesty's Government] assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or its interests.'

I would like to point out that Mr. Ross' statement does not support the conclusion (no WMDs) that Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith make. It suggests the exact opposite.

Colin Brown and Andy Smith:
'The Foreign Office had attempted to prevent the evidence being made public, but it has now been published by the Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs after MPs sought assurances from the Foreign Office that it would not breach the Official Secrets Act. It shows Mr Ross told the inquiry, chaired by Lord Butler, 'there was no intelligence evidence of significant holdings of CW [chemical warfare], BW [biological warfare] or nuclear material' held by the Iraqi dictator before the invasion. 'There was, moreover, no intelligence or assessment during my time in the job that Iraq had any intention to launch an attack against its neighbours or the UK or the US,' he added.'

Of course, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith turn the point backwards to support their assertions. The issue never hung on proof that Iraq had any current intent to launch attacks against its neighbors, or the UK, or the US; nor was the issue proof that Iraq had significant holdings of of WMDs. You see, Iraq had alreadt demonstrated it's previous willingness to launch attacks against it neighbors, using the oft cited WMDs that it previously had in great stockpiles--those bits were fully and dramatically confirmed by the tragic tesimony of those who had experienced it first hand. What has always been the issue is the proof that Iraq had rid itself of WMDs--proof that was not submitted, and the notion of such disarmament apparently denied with enough conviction that nobody was willing to take a chance and certify Iraq's compliance with the related UN resoultions.