WAAR ON IRAK

Radio Netherland: Where are the weapons?

With the battle for Baghdad fizzling out without the use of chemical weapons by Iraqi troops, Washington's critics are demanding to know what has happened to Saddam Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction. Former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter is one of those who has heaped scorn upon President George Bush's administration for going to war. In this interview with RN's Saskia van Reenan, Mr Ritter, a former US marine officer, explains why he sees US justifications for waging war as dishonest excuses for empire-building.

"The threat that Iraq poses from weapons of mass destruction I think has been clearly exposed as a lie. We were told to expect chemical weapons to rain down on troops as soon as they crossed over the border from Kuwait into Iraq, but that didn't happen. We were then told that as we closed in on the so-called ‘red line' around Baghdad – the 50-mile circle – that as soon as we breached that, chemical weapons would be used. That didn't happen. Then we said chemical weapons would be used as a last-gasp defence of Baghdad but that didn't happen. What chemical weapons? We were told that the presidential palaces were brimming over with weapons of mass destruction, but we now occupy many of the presidential palaces and we've found nothing."