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The New York Times > Washington > Weapons Inspectors: Iraq Study Finds Desire for Arms, but Not Capacity

A new report on Iraq's illicit weapons program is expected to conclude that Saddam Hussein's government had a clear intent to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons if United Nations sanctions were lifted, government officials said Thursday. But, like earlier reports, it finds no evidence that Iraq had begun any large-scale program for weapons production by the time of the American invasion last year, the officials said.

This is exactly what I've been trying to explain to people. First, we didn't know they didn't have weapons for sure until the invasion. Second, leaving Saddam in power after inspections finished and sanctions were lifted would embolden and empower him to produce those weapons.

Add humanitarian motives, and a chance to change the ideological map of the Middle East, and you get a fine justification for invasion.