Miniter claims that in Iraq we:

- Found: 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium
- Found: 1,500 gallons of chemical weapons
- Found: Roadside bomb loaded with sarin gas
- Found: 1,000 radioactive materials–ideal for radioactive dirty bombs
- Found: 17 chemical warheads–some containing cyclosarin, a nerve agent five times more powerful than sarin

Now for the facts:

The 1.77 Tons of Enriched Uranium
The Energy Department announced in July 2004 that it had removed from Iraq “radiological and nuclear materials that could potentially be used in a radiological dispersal device or diverted to support a nuclear weapons program.” This included the “1.77 metric tons of LOW-enriched uranium.” The reason the Administration is not now touting this as evidence of WMD is because they would be laughed at by anyone with more expertise than David Miniter. Low-enriched uranium cannot be used in an atomic weapon-only as reactor fuel, a purpose which Iraq was entirely free to pursue under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and UN-imposed WMD restrictions.

The 1000 Radioactive Materials
Pointing to the applicability of nuclear materials in a “radiological dispersal device” is utterly disingenuous-these materials exist, legally, in nearly every country on earth. One might as well point to cutlery in someone’s kitchen to “prove” he is plotting murder. In fact, the hideous irony is that in the chaos of the 2003 invasion, nuclear facilities were plundered and much nuclear material was indiscriminately released-resulting in a real radiological hazard for local Iraqis (as we reported at the time). Leave it to Bush to actually create the very danger he uses to justify his military adventure.

The 1500 Gallons of Chemical Weapons
Then, there’s the supposed “chemical weapons.” Oops! Turns out when you actually read the original source (Washington Post, Aug. 14, 2005) it wasn’t “1,500 gallons of chemical weapons,” but just “1,500 gallons of chemicals.” These were potential “precursor agents” for chemical weapons, the Pentagon boasted upon the discovery-but the fact that the Administration is no longer touting these claims is evidence the supposed weapons program didn’t get very far, if it existed at all.

The Roadside Sarin Bomb
The two roadside sarin shells were of an ancient vintage, dating from the 1980’s, prior to the first Gulf War. It is of particular note that other than the two isolated shells found, no more have turned up, leading to the obvious conclusion that these two stragglers were simply the last rusting vestiges of a long-abandoned program. We KNOW that Saddam had a chemical program prior to the first Gulf War, but we can also safely conclude that he had nothing after the Gulf War. This was confirmed by the Bush-appointed Duelfer Report.

The 17 Chemical Warheads
Even Fox News had to admit that the cyclosarin warheads found by Polish troops in July 2004 “date back to Saddam Hussein’s war with Iran in the 1980s.” The BBC added that “the US military said the agent was so deteriorated it posed no threat.”

Walter Ludwig, in the Star Tribune