"Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction," National Security Archives 

A collection of documents pertaining to Iraq's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction and the United Nations inspection and monitoring regime put in place in 1991 to insure that Iraq dismantled its WMD programs and did not take actions to reconstitute them.

The documents presented in this electronic briefing book include the major unclassified U.S. and British assessments of Iraqi WMD programs, the reports of the IAEA and UNSCOM covering the final period prior to the 1998 expulsions, the transcript of a key speech by President George W. Bush, a recently released statement on U.S. policy towards combating WMD, and documents from the 1980s and 1990s concerning various aspects of Iraqi WMD activities.

INSPECTIONS IN IRAQ: A PRIMER Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Joby Warrick, "Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake: U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged," Washington Post , March 8, 2003

A key piece of evidence linking Iraq to a nuclear weapons program appears to have been fabricated, the United Nations' chief nuclear inspector said yesterday in a report that called into question U.S. and British claims about Iraq's secret nuclear ambitions.

Wayne Washington, "US lets N. Korea get nuclear data," Boston Globe March 7, 2003

David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda Gerber, Contested Case: Do the Facts Justify the Case for War in Iraq? Fourth Freedom Foundation  Download PDF of complete report

The United States, the United Kingdom, and other nations claim that Iraq poses an imminent threat to international security because it has weapons of mass destruction and operational connections to the Al Qaeda terrorist network. The information now being released by the Bush administration does not clarify these vital concerns . . .

Linda Gerber, Karl Shelly, Alistair Millar, David Cortright, and George A. Lopez, "Grading Iraqi Compliance" Fourth Freedom Foundation

The U.S. and other governments contend that the United Nations disarmament process in Iraq is not working, but an objective analysis shows that significant steps toward compliance have occurred. This report lists Iraqi efforts to cooperate with UN inspections while also identifying areas of inadequate compliance.

Michael E. O'Hanlon "The Weapons Inspectors Can Succeed"   Financial Times, November 15, 2002

There is good reason to be optimistic that inspections can eliminate much of Saddam's chemical and biological capabilities and, most important, prevent him from obtaining the bomb.

International Crisis Group, "Arming Saddam: The Yugoslav Connection" Full Report Dec. 2002

UNSCOM’s 1999 report on Iraq's Weapons Programs

Frida Berrigan, Stumbling Blindly Into War  World Policy Institute November 15, 2002

Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program appears to be little more than an idea.

  Dana Milbank,  "President Enhances His Facts: Key Assertions Often Stretch the Truth,"  Washington Post, October 22, 2002

Michael Levi, "Nuclear Dangers Beyond Iraq" New York Times, September 23, 2002 

 Institute for Public Accuracy "Bush's War Case: Fiction vs. Facts"

David Corn. "Tony Blair Makes A Case...For Inspections, Not War" The Nation 

Joseph Curl, "Agency disavows report on Iraq arms" Washington Times Sept. 27, 2002

The International Atomic Energy Agency says that a report cited by President Bush as evidence that Iraq in 1998 was "six months away" from developing a nuclear weapon does not exist.

Frank von Hippel, "The Nuclear Threat from Iraq"  September 13, 2002 

(Edited presentation given at a briefing organized by Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), Rayburn House Office Building 2203, September 13, 2002.)

Government file to expose Saddam's aims to procure deadly missile parts

New evidence proves that Saddam Hussein has continued his efforts to assemble an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. 

John Diamond, "U.S. assertions go beyond its intelligence Questions raised on Iraq evidence" USA TODAY  Sept 17, 2002

Walter Pincus, "US Effort Aimed at Iraqi Officers: Stopping Biological Weapons is the Goal" Washington Post Sept. 29, 2002

 Alan Simpson, MP and Dr Glen Rangwala."The dishonest case for war on Iraq"

 Andrew Buncombe, "Scientists question Bush case against Iraq" Independent September 22, 2002

"Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Net Assessment An IISS Strategic Dossier" International Institute for Strategic Studies (Press Release) September 9, 2002

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Iraq: A New Approach" (press release)

Coercive International Inspections Would Address WMD Threat
Read the new Carnegie proposal that identifies a new option for Iraq. In the lead chapter, Carnegie president Jessica T. Mathews proposes “coercive inspections” in which a multinational military force would enable international inspections teams to operate effectively in Iraq. 

Rear Adm. (Ret.) Stephen H. Baker "Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq"  Center for Defense Information

Patrick E. Tyler, "Officers Say U.S. Aided Iraq in War Despite Use of Gas"   New York Times August 18, 2002

Joseph Cirincione with Jon B. Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar "Iraq"  Chapter 16 from Deadly Ilusions: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 2002  [PDF format-24 pages]

Dilip Hiro, "Iraq and Poison Gas," The Nation

Jeffrey Goldberg, "The Great Terror," New Yorker
In northern Iraq, there is new evidence of Saddam Hussein's genocidal war on the Kurds—and of his possible ties to Al Qaeda.

 

Philip H. Gordon, Martin Indyk and Michael E. O’Hanlon, "Getting Serious About Iraq" Brookings Institute (PDF)

The regime in Iraq can be changed, and Saddam deposed. But it is a much bigger, more complicated and more costly task than the Afghan model – or much of the discussion in Washington – would suggest. America would be taking preemptive action to remove a regime in the heartland of the Arab world. If it succeeds, it would end or at least greatly diminish the Iraqi WMD threat. It could also reduce Western dependence on Saudi Arabia (as well as Saudi dependence on the West), and remove the need to keep American troops there, thus dramatically changing the dynamics of the Middle East. But America would also be shouldering a responsibility that the Bush administration has been reluctant to assume, at a time when the war in Afghanistan is not over and that nation has yet to be rebuilt. If America decides to go into Iraq, it had better do so with its eyes wide open.

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