Sure are a lot of stories based on this one anonymous official. Hope he's a reliable one.

And if they find evidence of weapons programs, but no live weapons? Well, that's okay, then. I guess we just should have left Saddam alone with those programs for a few more years. Hey, old Hans "Heimdall" Blix would have spotted them, right? Unless he got kicked out.

President Bush who, before ordering the invasion of Iraq last March, argued Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction posed an imminent threat that justified war.

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.

- State of the Union Address, 2003

Bush does not seem to be saying here that Iraq was an imminent threat. In fact, the whole point of preemptive action is that one acts before the threat manifests itself, right? I'm going to repost this every time the "imminent" phrase pops up.