Stop the Presses!

This just in:

U.S. quietly ends hunt for banned Iraqi arms

By Brian Knowlton International Herald Tribune Thursday, January 13, 2005

No evidence found of weapons cited as justification for war

WASHINGTON The White House confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. search in Iraq for banned weapons, which it had cited as justification for the war against Saddam Hussein, has been quietly ended after nearly two years, with no evidence of their existence.

That means that the conclusions of an interim report last autumn by the leader of the weapons search, Charles Duelfer - which undercut prewar administration contentions that Iraq possessed biological and chemical weapons, was building a nuclear capability, and might share weapons with Al Qaeda - will stand.

But a White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, insisted that the war was justified. He rejected the suggestion that the administration's credibility had been gravely damaged in ways that could weaken its future response to perceived threats.....

....Asked by a reporter whether the president felt "any sense of embarrassment" that no banned weapons had been found, despite the administration's formerly confident and urgent-sounding assertions, McClellan reminded the questioner of Bush's comment in October that Saddam "retained the intent and capability to produce weapons of mass destruction" and was "systematically gaming the system" to undermine UN sanctions.

"Knowing what I know today," Bush said in October, "I would have made the same decision."

However, McClellan added, the Bush Administration is continuing its aggressive pursuit of the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus.

"These evil-doers shall be brought to justice," the President declared. "They can run but they cannot hide."