Quote:
Weapons hunter leaves post in Iraq
By TABASSUM ZAKARIA
Reuters News Agency
Saturday, January 24, 2004 - Page A16
WASHINGTON -- David Kay stepped down as leader of the hunt by the United States for banned weapons in Iraq yesterday, firing a parting shot at the White House in the process.
In a direct challenge to President George W. Bush's administration, which has said its invasion of Iraq was justified by the presence of illicit arms, Mr. Kay said in a telephone interview that he has concluded there were no Iraqi stockpiles to be found.
"I don't think they existed," he said. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last Gulf War [in 1991], and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the nineties," he said.
Mr. Kay's departure had been expected, but the manner was not. The Central Intelligence Agency announced earlier in the day that former United Nations weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who has previously expressed doubts that unconventional weapons would be found, would succeed Mr. Kay as Washington's chief arms hunter.
Mr. Kay said he believes most of what was going to be found in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been found, and that the hunt would become more difficult once the United States returns control of the country to the Iraqis. His statement is certain to keep the debate about what Washington knew before the war at a high intensity throughout this year's U.S. presidential campaign. The comments were also a setback for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who joined Mr. Bush in insisting that weapons of mass destruction would be found.
The United States went to war against Baghdad last year citing a threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In his annual State of the Union speech this week, Mr. Bush insisted former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein actively pursued dangerous programs up to the start of the U.S.-led attack in March.
Analyst Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Mr. Kay's statement implicitly contradicts both Mr. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. "Kay is a very careful man who chooses his words with great precision. He is trying to set the record straight and be true to his profession," he said.
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Just thought I'd post it for those who didn't catch it in their weekend edition. Is this another blow to Bush's rhetoric or something of little consequence? Much has been made of his reports, I wonder if his parting words will carry as much weight.
Thoughts?
SLM3