To: Sully- who wrote (13614 ) 11/10/2004 4:34:49 PM From: Michael Watkins Read Replies (1) | Respond to I've read every word of the CIA report and the bottom line is that it clearly underscores that there was no clear and present danger - to any nation - not even Iran, which is Iraq's principle enemy - and certainly not to the US.Saddam Husayn ended the nuclear program in 1991 following the Gulf war. ISG found no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart the program .Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991 . [as it was told to do] There are no credible indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter , a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad’s desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.ISG judges that Baghdad abandoned its existing BW program in the belief that it constituted a potential embarrassment, whose discovery would undercut Baghdad’s ability to reach its overarching goal of obtaining relief from UN sanctions . In practical terms, with the destruction of the Al Hakam facility, Iraq abandoned its ambition to obtain advanced BW weapons quickly. ISG found no direct evidence that Iraq, after 1996, had plans for a new BW program or was conducting BW-specific work for military purposes . Indeed, from the mid-1990s, despite evidence of continuing interest in nuclear and chemical weapons, there appears to be a complete absence of discussion or even interest in BW at the Presidential level.conjecture used to portray Iraq in as dangerous a light as possible, given that the reality is Husayn in the end did fundamentally comply with Security Resolutions.
