Interesting take on the great mystery of our times from an Israeli intelligence analyst Amos Gilad, former head of the Intelligence Directorate, who is still convinced that Saddam was developing WMD programmes before the war:

'Gilad stubbornly insists that although no non-conventional weapons were found “there is no doubt that Saddam had those weapons”. He claims, “Based on my contacts with agencies around the world, immediately before the war, Iraq had a military biological weapons program and chemical weapons”. Regarding nuclear weapons, they were in the early stages of development. I still think that they had fewer missiles than estimated, throughout the years. Regarding the missiles, I must note that this is only estimation, not a fact”.'

So what does he think happened to them? Gilad blames US incompetence:

'“I am sorry to say that, in my judgment, the United States did not adequately prepare to incorporate intelligence into its operational capability when it took over Iraq. I can state with certainty that in many places they found things that were suspected of being chemical and biological weapons. The Americans apparently thought that the Iraqi people would receive them with open arms and, therefore, did not hurry to examine things. Very quickly, it became clear that the suspicious objects, which were in places where the Americans could not reach them, simply disappeared. In addition, the riddle regarding the possibility that the Iraqis trucked chemical and biological weapons and scientist to Syria before the war remains unsolved”.'

Posted by melanie at March 23, 2004