Not Everyone Got It Wrong on Iraq’s Weapons

For years, Scott Ritter, chief UN inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, has maintained that Iraq's nuclear weapons program was defunct. Current evidence from David Kay's investigation suggests that Ritter was right. Yet Kay stated in his report on the Iraqi Survey Group's progress that "we were all wrong," ignoring the differing opinions of many UN workers. In this commentary, Ritter argues that Kay's statement protects the Bush Administration from allegations that it misled the public in regard to Iraq's weapons capabilities. While Kay seems to place the blame on the the intelligence community, an interpretation President Bush has also embraced, Ritter claims that the fault lies in how the scant evidence meant to justify a war was interpreted. "We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD. Sadly, no one listened," says Ritter. – YaleGlobal