No Need for Bush Apology on WMD's

The Bush administration announced yesterday that it was ceasing the search for WMD's in Iraq after more than a year of looking for them. Critics of the administration immediately pounced on the news and demanded an apology from the Bush adminstration for allegedly taking us to war based on a falsehood. Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of Representatives Democrat minority leader said:

"Now that the search is finished, President Bush needs to explain to the American people why he was so wrong, for so long, about the reasons for war,"

This and other statements from the President's critics are based on the mistaken premise that Bush took us to war over proof of Sadaam having WMD's. This position willfully ignores the basic premise of the U.N. resolutions that were the principal cause of our invasion of Iraq, principally that the burden of proof was on Sadaam.

Let me say that again. The burden of proof was on Sadaam, not the U.S. The conditions of the cease fire at the conclusion of the Gulf War demanded that Sadaam not only destroy the WMD's that everyone knew he had, but also that he provide proof that he had done so. Yes, there were U.N. inspectors involved. But their mission was not to find the WMD's and prove that they were there. It was to verify Sadaam's proof. All of the ensuing sanctions and following on U.N. resolutions were to insist that Sadaam destroy the weapons, and provide proof to the world, or there would be "serious consequences". Sadaam scoffed. Bush lived up to the serious consequences. No apology needed.

The only apologies needed are from France / Germany / Russia for enabling Sadaam's defiance of the U.N. resolutions by throwing their vote in the Security Council in exchange for bribes from the oil-for-food program. Scandalous.

Also scandalous are the statements of Democratic leaders, like Congresswoman Pelosi, who know better and continue to accuse the President of the United States of lying to the world. It undermines our collective credibility as a people in the eyes of the world for cheap partisan gain.