I linked to this yesterday, but seeing as how permission has been granted to reprint and republish, I thought this was well worth making a full post of its own.
What a tangled web we weave…
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
— Dick Cheney, August 26, 2002: Speech to VFW National Convention
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
— George W. Bush, September 12, 2002: Speech to UN General Assembly
If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world.
— Ari Fleischer, December 2, 2002: Press Briefing
We know for a fact that there are weapons there.
— Ari Fleischer, January 9, 2003: Press Briefing
Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent.
— George W. Bush, January 28, 2003: State of the Union Address
We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more.
— Colin Powell, February 5, 2003: Remarks to UN Security Council
We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons — the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have.
— George W. Bush, February 8, 2003: Radio Address
So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? … I think our judgment has to be clearly not.
— Colin Powell, March 7, 2003: Remarks to UN Security Council
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
— George W. Bush, March 17, 2003: Address to the Nation
Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly…all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes.
— Ari Fleisher, March 21, 2003: Press Briefing
There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And…as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them.
— Gen. Tommy Franks, March 22, 2003: Press Conference
I have no doubt we’re going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction.
— Defense Policy Board member Kenneth Adelman, March 23, 2003: Washington Post, p. A27
One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a number of sites.
— Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clark, March 22, 2003: Press Briefing
We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.
— Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003: ABC Interview
Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find — and there will be plenty.
— Neocon scholar Robert Kagan, April 9, 2003: Washington Post op-ed
I think you have always heard, and you continue to hear from officials, a measure of high confidence that, indeed, the weapons of mass destruction will be found.
— Ari Fleischer, April 10, 2003: Press Briefing
We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them.
— George W. Bush, April 24, 2003: NBC Interview
There are people who in large measure have information that we need…so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.
— Donald Rumsfeld, April 25, 2003: Press Briefing
We’ll find them. It’ll be a matter of time to do so.
— George W. Bush, May 3, 2003: Remarks to Reporters
I’m absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We’re just getting it just now.
— Colin Powell, May 4, 2003: Remarks to Reporters
We never believed that we’d just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country.
— Donald Rumsfeld, May 4, 2003: Fox News Interview
I’m not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein — because he had a weapons program.
— George W. Bush, May 6, 2003: Remarks to Reporters
U.S. officials never expected that “we were going to open garages and find” weapons of mass destruction.
— Condoleeza Rice, May 12, 2003: Reuters Interview
I just don’t know whether it was all destroyed years ago — I mean, there’s no question that there were chemical weapons years ago — whether they were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they’re still hidden.
— Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne, May 13, 2003: Press Briefing
Before the war, there’s no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be found. I still expect them to be found.
— Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, May 21, 2003: Interview with Reporters
Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we’re interrogating, I’m confident that we’re going to find weapons of mass destruction.
— Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, May 26, 2003: NBC Today Show interview
They may have had time to destroy them, and I don’t know the answer.
— Donald Rumsfeld, May 27, 2003: Remarks to Council on Foreign Relations
For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on.
— Paul Wolfowitz, May 28, 2003: Vanity Fair interview
Originally compiled by billmon.