Waiting for Mr. Kay

Thursday, September 25, 2003; Page A32

OVER THE PAST couple of months, the name David Kay has become something of a talisman for President Bush and his senior aides. Every time one of them is asked to explain why no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, Mr. Kay's name is invoked, sometimes along with his 1,200-member Iraq Survey Group, and the suggestion is made that he will provide all the answers. Mr. Kay "will . . . over time produce the information that will respond to your question," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said this month. "David Kay will find more evidence," promised Vice President Cheney. Mr. Bush himself told the United Nations Tuesday that the Kay group would "reveal the full extent of [Iraq's] weapons programs and long campaign of deception."

So when can we expect to hear from Mr. Kay? There, it seems, is the catch. Asked this question at a briefing on Monday, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice responded: "David Kay is not going to be done with this for quite some time. And I would not count on reports. I suppose there may be interim reports. I don't know when those will be, and I don't know what the public nature of them will be." In other words, the Bush administration seems to be saying, any explanation of the missing weapons will come from Mr. Kay -- but don't "count on reports." This is an unacceptable dodge.

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