Posted on Feb 3, 2023
20 years ago, the U.S. warned of Iraq's alleged 'weapons of mass destruction'
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https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/ [login to see] /colin-powell-iraq-un-weapons-mass-destruction
There wasn't just one moment that led to the Iraq War. But one speech, delivered 20 years ago at the United Nations, would come to define and undermine the conflict.
On Feb. 5, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell sat in front of members of the U.N. Security Council. He'd been a staunch critic of U.S. intervention against Iraq's authoritarian leader, Saddam Hussein.
But with the world watching, Powell made a case for war.
"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources — solid sources," he said. "These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."
Powell used information that intelligence officials assured him was credible. There were reconnaissance photos, elaborate maps and charts, and even taped phone conversations between senior members of Iraq's military.
There wasn't just one moment that led to the Iraq War. But one speech, delivered 20 years ago at the United Nations, would come to define and undermine the conflict.
On Feb. 5, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell sat in front of members of the U.N. Security Council. He'd been a staunch critic of U.S. intervention against Iraq's authoritarian leader, Saddam Hussein.
But with the world watching, Powell made a case for war.
"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources — solid sources," he said. "These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."
Powell used information that intelligence officials assured him was credible. There were reconnaissance photos, elaborate maps and charts, and even taped phone conversations between senior members of Iraq's military.
20 years ago, the U.S. warned of Iraq's alleged 'weapons of mass destruction'
Posted from npr.org
Iraq
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CIA’s final report: No WMD found in Iraq
In his final report, the CIA’s top weapons inspector in Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has gone “as far as feasible” and has found nothing.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."“As Bush said to him at the time, ‘Maybe they’ll believe you. Maybe the audience will believe you,’ ” journalist and Powell biographer Karen DeYoung told NPR in 2006. “Because it was always clear in the Bush administration that Powell was more popular than anyone else.”
To this day, the Iraq War is widely viewed as a foreign policy and humanitarian disaster. The conflict dragged on for almost nine years and claimed nearly 4,500 American lives. Over 185,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Some 2 million Iraqis had been displaced from their homes by the time U.S. forces pulled out in 2011.
Three years later, President Obama ordered troops back to Iraq to help combat the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS — assuring Americans he would not commit to “another ground war.” U.S. forces officially withdrew in December 2021 after almost seven years of fighting.
Powell later called his U.N. speech a “great intelligence failure” and a “blot” on his record, telling NBC News’ Meet the Press in 2004 he trusted the information he’d gotten.
“But it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and in some cases deliberately misleading,” Powell said. “And for that, I am disappointed. And I regret it.”
..."“As Bush said to him at the time, ‘Maybe they’ll believe you. Maybe the audience will believe you,’ ” journalist and Powell biographer Karen DeYoung told NPR in 2006. “Because it was always clear in the Bush administration that Powell was more popular than anyone else.”
To this day, the Iraq War is widely viewed as a foreign policy and humanitarian disaster. The conflict dragged on for almost nine years and claimed nearly 4,500 American lives. Over 185,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Some 2 million Iraqis had been displaced from their homes by the time U.S. forces pulled out in 2011.
Three years later, President Obama ordered troops back to Iraq to help combat the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS — assuring Americans he would not commit to “another ground war.” U.S. forces officially withdrew in December 2021 after almost seven years of fighting.
Powell later called his U.N. speech a “great intelligence failure” and a “blot” on his record, telling NBC News’ Meet the Press in 2004 he trusted the information he’d gotten.
“But it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and in some cases deliberately misleading,” Powell said. “And for that, I am disappointed. And I regret it.”
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