Word: wmds
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...here? In one sense, this war is easy to explain. Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator who hates America and has shown a wicked fondness for acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Since Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. has been acutely aware of what can happen when powerful weapons fall into the hands of those with no compunction about their use and no sympathy for those they kill. Put those facts together, and you can argue that Saddam's days were numbered from the moment the attacks on New York City and Washington happened. But that suggests...
...dossier notes that all this work violates UN resolutions as well as other treaties, and serves Saddam's proven passion, going back more than 20 years, to acquire a big collection of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs...
...much secret data to release. It's true that the dossier contains no "killer fact" capable of converting doubters to the cause of imminent war. But that isn't Blair's purpose. He is trying to build a cumulative case that Saddam is both intent on acquiring more WMDs, and is therefore too dangerous to be left unchecked by the international community, given his long record of brutality towards his own people, aggression towards his neighbors and contempt for Security Council resolutions. Without any single killer fact, the sheer weight of evidence presented - in which Blair said his British intelligence...
...alarm goes off. Another factor is that al-Qaeda, according to intelligence seized in Afghanistan, is trying to procure nukes too. The British government discounts all claims of any Iraqi connection with al-Qaeda over Sept. 11, and it's unlikely that Saddam would ever subcontract delivery of WMDs to any outside group. Nevertheless, Sept. 11 may have alerted him to the attractions of unorthodox attacks. In fact, Blair has been stressing the dangers of WMD proliferation for years. "This is our moment of maximum opportunity," says an adviser, "when the U.S. has woken up from its isolationist dream...
There will be much to test the Bush-Blair bond in coming months. If it comes to war, Saddam could be deposed quickly as optimists suggest; or he could rain wmds on Israel or stash his tanks in the cities, daring Bush to bomb civilians. Meanwhile, a struggle looms over the role of the U.N. For many countries, another U.N. resolution will be needed for them to back an attack on Iraq. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder says he "can't imagine" helping otherwise. If only to build public awareness of Saddam's recalcitrance, Blair backs a campaign...