js7a's Journal: G.W. Bush couldn't find any Iraqi WMDs before 9/11, either

Although the administration statements asserting that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction from September 2001 to mid-2003 are well documented and easy to find, few people seem to remember that before 9/11/01, nobody in the Bush administration claimed that Iraq possessed WMDs at all:

• 2 December 1999: During a debate in New Hampshire, George W Bush declares: "If I found in any way, shape or form that he was developing weapons of mass destruction, I'd take 'em out." Asked if that meant he would overthrow Saddam, Bush said he was only talking about the weapons.
• 11 February 2000: Stumping in South Carolina, George W Bush declares: "If we catch them developing weapons of mass destruction, there won't be any weapons of mass destruction left in Iraq -- if I'm the Commander-in-Chief."
• 11 October 2000: During a debate at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, George W Bush declares: "We don't know whether he's developing weapons of mass destruction. He better not be, or there's going to be a consequence -- should I be the President."
• 22 February 2001: George W Bush declares: "The Secretary of State is going to go listen to our allies as to how best to effect a policy, the primary goal of which will be to say to Saddam Hussein: we won't tolerate you developing weapons of mass destruction, and we expect you to leave your neighbors alone."
• 24 February 2001: In Cairo, Secretary of State Colin Powell declares that Hussein, "has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction."
• 17 May 2001: State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declares: "The focus is on strengthening controls to prevent Iraq from rebuilding military capability in weapons of mass destruction, while facilitating a broader flow of goods to the civilian population of Iraq."
• 7 August 2001: George W Bush declares: "He needs to open his country up for inspection, so we can see whether or not he's developing weapons of mass destruction."

If you want the truth, just ask Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz:

"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue - weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."

Update:When Wolfowitz claims, in the interview linked above, that, "the issue about weapons of mass destruction has never been in controversy...." He is mistaken. If he is accurate when he says, "I can't recall (m)any intelligence assessments that have been as unanimous as the judgment about Iraqi chemical and biological weapons," what does that say about U.S. intelligence accuracy while he has served?