No Iraq chemical weapons stockpile, finds report

CONTRADICTING the main argument for a war that has cost more than 1,000 American lives, the top US arms inspector reported yesterday that he found no evidence that Iraq produced any weapons of mass destruction after 1991.

He also concluded that Saddam Hussein’s weapons capability weakened during a dozen years of UN sanctions before the US invasion last year.

Contrary to pre-war statements by US President George W Bush and top administration officials, Saddam did not have chemical and biological stockpiles when the war began and his nuclear capabilities were deteriorating, not advancing, according to the report by Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group.