Some of the dictator's aides said their survival depended in part on "having a sense" of what he wanted, even if he never said so. They said they understood his long-term plans to rebuild weapons "from their long association" with him and his "infrequent, but firm, verbal comments" to them, the report says.
Several lawmakers expressed anger that the weapons search was still going forward. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) complained that the effort had so far cost $900 million.
"Why does the search keep going on and on?" he asked. "Aren't we at the point where we have to admit the stockpiles don't exist?"
Duelfer took issue with Kennedy's comments.
"My task was not to find weapons of mass destruction, my task was to find the truth," Duelfer shot back, noting that "we've had a couple people die" in the effort. "I think it was a worthwhile endeavor."
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Times staff writer John Hendren contributed to this report.
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(Begin Text of Infobox)
A series of Iraq reports
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Wednesday's report by the Iraq Survey Group was the latest in a string of studies and sworn statements that run counter to Bush administration justifications for the war in Iraq. Tracking the weapons findings:
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Internal CIA investigation
by former agency official
Richard Kerr
Date: July 2003
Conclusion: Cites mistakes in assessments and tradecraft but concludes that the agency's assessments were "reasonable" based on the available intelligence at the time.
An interim report by David Kay, the former head of the Iraq Survey Group who resigned in January and was replaced by Charles A. Duelfer, who oversaw Wednesday's report
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Date: Jan. 28, 2004
Conclusion: No stockpiles of banned weapons likely to be found. Kay testifies, "We were almost all wrong."
Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of prewar intelligence on Iraq
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Date: July 7, 2004
Conclusion: Most of the key judgments on Iraq "either overstated, or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence reporting."
Final report from
Iraq Survey Group
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Date: Oct. 6, 2004
Conclusion: Saddam Hussein had "intent" to restart banned weapons programs but had no weapons before the war. Iraq's chemical weapons destroyed in 1991, its nuclear program disbanded in 1991, biological weapons research abandoned after 1996.
