Problem was that this was the conventional wisdom in Washington for many years Everyone believed the weapons existed Here is President Clinton from the 1998 SOTU speech Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade and much of his nation's wealth not on providing for the Iraqi people but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job, finding and destroying more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the entire Gulf War. Now, Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein: You cannot defy the will of the world. And when I say to him: You have used weapons of mass destruction before. We are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again. Senator Hillary Clinton vote for Iraq war 2002 In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists including Al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security. This is a very difficult vote. This is probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Any vote that might lead to war should it be hard, but I cast it with conviction.
No they did not, they just expected they might find something. The cart was well before the horse. Iraq was picked as the whipping boy as simple as that because Saudi was untouchable and as I said, Afganistan would not serve as much of an example no matter what they did to it. The whole idea was that the middle east leaders knew and saw the US kick the shit out of Saddam just because he was a suitable target. It was a thug move by GOP hawks.
Few seem to know that Canadian Bacon 1995 with the running down a list of bad guys to have a new cold war with, eventually choosing Canada was directed by Michael Moore.