Rewriting the Iraq War

Charles Johnson links to a New York Times article stating, "Apparently, in 1991 Saddam Hussein was about a year away from a nuclear bomb, and possessed detailed plans to build one."

Johnson adds, "Is the New York Times actually conceding that Saddam was just a year away from having a nuclear weapon in 2002?"

This is the same New York Times that published Judith Miller's bogus WMD garbage and was largely silent on her inaccurate reporting. The same New York Times. This is the same New York Times that wrote, "The Security Council doesn't need to sit through more months of inconclusive reports. It needs full and immediate Iraqi disarmament. It needs to say so, backed by the threat of military force." The New York Times endorsed the Iraq invasion.

Someone is trying to rewrite history and it's Charles Johnson. The Times did a better job pushing for the Iraq invasion than Little Green Footballs ever could.

Update: From the Duelfer Report

“Saddam Husayn ended the nuclear program in 1991 following the Gulf war. ISG found no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart the program.”

– “Although Saddam clearly assigned a high value to the nuclear progress and talent that had been developed up to the 1991 war, the program ended and the intellectual capital decayed in the succeeding years.”

– “The former Regime had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD after sanctions.”

Saddam Hussein wasn't an immediate threat that Johnson wants his readers to believe. The White House did publish the internet equivalent of Anarchist Cookbook onto the internet.

Update: David Scott Anderson points out the obvious. Except to Bush supporters.

The bottom line.... The administration published a handbook on creating a bomb, a BIG bomb, and instead of conservatives being concerned about that, they are all trying to spin the meme that this proves Iraq had a nuclear program? If it was not such a serious matter, it would be funny.

Some people such as Glenn Reynolds believes this Times justifies the Iraq war.

Kind of undercuts that whole "Bush lied about WMD" thing.

Keep holding on to that straw. I hold you don't snap it.

Reynolds links to Tigerhawk. (I love these stupid warblogger handles.)

Seems that the New York Times owes Judith Miller an apology. Or at least a hat tip.

Words fail me.