The inteligence existed, and it was conclusively solid, backed by every "knowing" nation on the globe -- including Iraq. Iraq had the capability, stated it was more than willing to use it, and openly threatened to do so more than once since 9/11, as simple as that.

That the entire setup may have been merely a bunch of scientists scared to their wit's end who were saying whatever they could to keep themselves and their families alive had nothing to do with it. We went with what was "known" to be. That it may now turn out to have all been a selfish, albeit life-saving hoax is, at best, academic -- hence our endless WMD debates here at HZ.

Dan (as the Middle East remains closed to the West, we will likely never really know)