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Weapons hunter quits, says Iraq had no WMDs
WASHINGTON: David Kay stepped down as leader of the American hunt for banned weapons in Iraq today, and fired a parting shot at the Bush administration, while pressure mounted on the United States to hold early direct elections in Iraq.
In a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which says its invasion of Iraq was justified by the presence of illicit arms, Kay said in a telephone interview he had concluded there were no Iraqi stockpiles to be found.
"I don't think they existed," Kay said. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the nineties," he said.
Kay's departure had been expected but the manner of his going was not. The CIA announced earlier that former UN weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who has previously expressed doubts that unconventional weapons would be found, would succeed Kay as the US's chief arms hunter.
Kay's statement is certain to keep the debate about what the US knew before the war at high intensity throughout this year's US presidential campaign.
The comments were also a setback for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W Bush's chief military ally, who had insisted weapons of mass destruction would be found.
Meanwhile, US plans to hand sovereignty back to Iraqis by July 1 remained clouded.
Ahmad Chalabi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council generally seen as close to the US, said it would be possible to hold elections before the midyear deadline,
The US has insisted there is not enough time to arrange elections by then. It wants regional caucuses to appoint a transitional government, with elections in 2005.
"Direct elections are possible," Chalabi told a think tank conference in Washington. "Seek to make them possible and they will be possible."
Iraq's Shi'ites, who make up 60 per cent of the population, have mounted big demonstrations across Iraq in the past week, peacefully supporting their leading cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who says direct elections are essential.
At Friday prayers in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, a leading Shi'ite cleric who says he is an adviser to Sistani told worshipers to be patient and wait to see what discussions between the United Nations and the Governing Council led to.
Kay said he believes most of what was going to be found in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been found and that the hunt would become more difficult once America returned control of the country to the Iraqis.
The US went to war against Baghdad last year citing a threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. To date, no banned arms have been found.
In his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Bush insisted that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had actively pursued dangerous programmes right up to the start of the US attack in March.
Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Kay's resignation and his statement to Reuters implicitly contradicted Bush and vice-president Dick Cheney.
"Kay is a very careful man who chooses his words with great precision. He is trying to set the record straight and be true to his profession," he said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2793312a10,00.html
"I don't think they existed," Kay said. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the nineties," he said.
Kay's departure had been expected but the manner of his going was not. The CIA announced earlier that former UN weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who has previously expressed doubts that unconventional weapons would be found, would succeed Kay as the US's chief arms hunter.
Kay's statement is certain to keep the debate about what the US knew before the war at high intensity throughout this year's US presidential campaign.
The comments were also a setback for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W Bush's chief military ally, who had insisted weapons of mass destruction would be found.
Meanwhile, US plans to hand sovereignty back to Iraqis by July 1 remained clouded.
Ahmad Chalabi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council generally seen as close to the US, said it would be possible to hold elections before the midyear deadline,
The US has insisted there is not enough time to arrange elections by then. It wants regional caucuses to appoint a transitional government, with elections in 2005.
"Direct elections are possible," Chalabi told a think tank conference in Washington. "Seek to make them possible and they will be possible."
Iraq's Shi'ites, who make up 60 per cent of the population, have mounted big demonstrations across Iraq in the past week, peacefully supporting their leading cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who says direct elections are essential.
At Friday prayers in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, a leading Shi'ite cleric who says he is an adviser to Sistani told worshipers to be patient and wait to see what discussions between the United Nations and the Governing Council led to.
Kay said he believes most of what was going to be found in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been found and that the hunt would become more difficult once America returned control of the country to the Iraqis.
The US went to war against Baghdad last year citing a threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. To date, no banned arms have been found.
In his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Bush insisted that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had actively pursued dangerous programmes right up to the start of the US attack in March.
Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Kay's resignation and his statement to Reuters implicitly contradicted Bush and vice-president Dick Cheney.
"Kay is a very careful man who chooses his words with great precision. He is trying to set the record straight and be true to his profession," he said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2793312a10,00.html
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The head of the team searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, David Kay, has resigned.
Mr Kay said he did not believe Iraq possessed large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons.
He is being replaced by a former deputy head of the United Nations weapons inspections team, Charles Duelfer.
Mr Duelfer said earlier this month he believed the chances of finding chemical or biological weapons in Iraq were now "close to nil".
Mr Kay gave no reason for leaving, but the BBC's John Leyne in Washington says sources there speak of a mixture of personal reasons and his disillusionment with the weapons search.
His resignation had been expected for a few weeks.
'No stockpiles'
The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) team leader was appointed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last June to head the post-war search for chemical, nuclear and biological weapons in Iraq.
The issue of banned weapons was the central element of the US case for invading the country.
In an interview with Reuters news agency after his resignation was announced, Mr Kay said he did not believe there had been large-scale production of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.
"I don't think they existed," Mr Kay said.
"What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last Gulf War and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the 90s."
"I think we have found probably 85% of what we're going to find."
Our correspondent says these are powerful remarks from someone who once strongly believed Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WDM) represented a major threat.
In his State of the Union speech this week, President George W Bush quoted the conclusion of Mr Kay's interim report, which said only that WMD-related programme activities had been found in Iraq.
On Friday, the new ISG group head, Mr Duelfer, distanced himself from his comments on US television earlier this month in which he expressed doubts that banned weapons would ever be found.
"I have now been given the responsibility of being in charge of the investigation and I don't know what the outcome will be. I don't want to pre-judge that," he said.
Announcing Mr Kay's departure, CIA director George Tenet praised him for "extraordinary service under dangerous and difficult circumstances".
In a statement released by the CIA, Mr Kay said he retained confidence in the ISG's efforts to resolve questions about the ousted Iraqi regime's WMD efforts.
Mr Duelfer, 51, served as deputy executive chairman of the UN Special Commission on Iraq from 1993 to 2000.
He is currently leading scientists checking out suspicious finds by the US military.
Experts say he has significant connections, including relationships with Iraqis and members of the ISG.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3424831.stm
Mr Kay said he did not believe Iraq possessed large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons.
He is being replaced by a former deputy head of the United Nations weapons inspections team, Charles Duelfer.
Mr Duelfer said earlier this month he believed the chances of finding chemical or biological weapons in Iraq were now "close to nil".
Mr Kay gave no reason for leaving, but the BBC's John Leyne in Washington says sources there speak of a mixture of personal reasons and his disillusionment with the weapons search.
His resignation had been expected for a few weeks.
'No stockpiles'
The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) team leader was appointed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last June to head the post-war search for chemical, nuclear and biological weapons in Iraq.
The issue of banned weapons was the central element of the US case for invading the country.
In an interview with Reuters news agency after his resignation was announced, Mr Kay said he did not believe there had been large-scale production of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq since the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.
"I don't think they existed," Mr Kay said.
"What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last Gulf War and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the 90s."
"I think we have found probably 85% of what we're going to find."
Our correspondent says these are powerful remarks from someone who once strongly believed Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WDM) represented a major threat.
In his State of the Union speech this week, President George W Bush quoted the conclusion of Mr Kay's interim report, which said only that WMD-related programme activities had been found in Iraq.
On Friday, the new ISG group head, Mr Duelfer, distanced himself from his comments on US television earlier this month in which he expressed doubts that banned weapons would ever be found.
"I have now been given the responsibility of being in charge of the investigation and I don't know what the outcome will be. I don't want to pre-judge that," he said.
Announcing Mr Kay's departure, CIA director George Tenet praised him for "extraordinary service under dangerous and difficult circumstances".
In a statement released by the CIA, Mr Kay said he retained confidence in the ISG's efforts to resolve questions about the ousted Iraqi regime's WMD efforts.
Mr Duelfer, 51, served as deputy executive chairman of the UN Special Commission on Iraq from 1993 to 2000.
He is currently leading scientists checking out suspicious finds by the US military.
Experts say he has significant connections, including relationships with Iraqis and members of the ISG.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3424831.stm
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
24 January 2004
David Kay, who stood down yesterday as head of the Bush administration's hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, said that he did not believe that any stockpiles of such weapons ever existed.
Mr Kay, a former UN inspector, said that most of what was going to be found in the hunt for Saddam Hussein's WMD had already been uncovered. The returning of sovereignty to the Iraqis would make the search more difficult, he added. "I don't think they existed," Mr Kay said, referring to Saddam's alleged stockpiles of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the [1991] Gulf War and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the Nineties."
Mr Kay's comments will be an embarrassment for the Bush administration. Earlier this week the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, one of Washington's most outspoken hawks who led the rallying cry for war insisting that Saddam possessed WMD, said the outcome of the search was not clear. "I think the jury is still out," he said. "It's going to take ... time to look in all of the cubby holes and ammo dumps in Iraq."
Despite having the resources of more than 1,000 personnel dedicated to the hunt for such weapons, an interim report issued by Mr Kay in October conceded that no weapons had been found, even though there was evidence Iraq had retained the "template" of a weapons programme.
The Bush administration appears determined to continue its public stance that such weapons could be discovered.
Donald Anderson, the Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that Mr Kay's comments posed serious problems for British and American intelligence agencies. "My understanding is that the President and the Prime Minister were acting on intelligence then available [at the time of deciding to go to war]. So this raises very important questions about the quality of that intelligence," he told BBC's Newsnight.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "It is important that people are patient and we let the Iraq Survey Group do its work. Their work is continuing and we should await the outcome of that. Our position is unchanged."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=484185
24 January 2004
David Kay, who stood down yesterday as head of the Bush administration's hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, said that he did not believe that any stockpiles of such weapons ever existed.
Mr Kay, a former UN inspector, said that most of what was going to be found in the hunt for Saddam Hussein's WMD had already been uncovered. The returning of sovereignty to the Iraqis would make the search more difficult, he added. "I don't think they existed," Mr Kay said, referring to Saddam's alleged stockpiles of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the [1991] Gulf War and I don't think there was a large-scale production programme in the Nineties."
Mr Kay's comments will be an embarrassment for the Bush administration. Earlier this week the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, one of Washington's most outspoken hawks who led the rallying cry for war insisting that Saddam possessed WMD, said the outcome of the search was not clear. "I think the jury is still out," he said. "It's going to take ... time to look in all of the cubby holes and ammo dumps in Iraq."
Despite having the resources of more than 1,000 personnel dedicated to the hunt for such weapons, an interim report issued by Mr Kay in October conceded that no weapons had been found, even though there was evidence Iraq had retained the "template" of a weapons programme.
The Bush administration appears determined to continue its public stance that such weapons could be discovered.
Donald Anderson, the Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that Mr Kay's comments posed serious problems for British and American intelligence agencies. "My understanding is that the President and the Prime Minister were acting on intelligence then available [at the time of deciding to go to war]. So this raises very important questions about the quality of that intelligence," he told BBC's Newsnight.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "It is important that people are patient and we let the Iraq Survey Group do its work. Their work is continuing and we should await the outcome of that. Our position is unchanged."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=484185
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