[deccan]

Originally posted by Jack Simth:
From what I have seen on the news, the search hasn't found much. Does this mean the components aren't there? No; nor does it mean that they are there, nor does it mean they never were there, nor does it mean many other things, especially because I've also read a news report where a member of a US search team was criticizing the methods he had been ordered to use. Mind you, the news in my area is severly slanted and not too terribly reliable, so that should be taken with a health dose of salt. If my assumptions aren't valid, then neither are most of my possible conclusions. I personally have no method by which to be certain on the subject. I have suspicions, but that is all they are, when it comes down to it.

By and large, I agree with Jack Smith's reasoning. I agree that it was reasonable for the various governments to assume that Iraq had / might still have WMDs. I'd like to point out that even France didn't claim that Iraq was free of WMDs.

A more significant point of contention was whether or not the supposed WMDs were a credible, imminent threat to the United States. I'd say that claiming that they were would be stretching the truth.