SUMMARY:
Back in 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq, we were almost certain they possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that could be detonated in less than 45 minutes. Unfortunately, it has recently been revealed that no such weapons exist in Iraq and our belief was simply fueled by rumors that Saddam Hussein did not deny. With more than 4,400 U.S. troops dead from the war, new information has been released that will play with many people’s emotions.
According to reports released last summer, the CIA knew (or at least had some inclination) that the weapons did not exist and simply let others believe it so we could go to war. While the CIA claims that they “messed up,” many are finding it hard to believe them. They claim that Hussein used to lie about their possession of WMDs and it was assumed that he still was.
Their assumptions are being called "mea culpa," a Latin phrase meaning "my mistake." Experts, however, believe that, in actuality, the exact opposite has happened, not being their mistake, but being their intentions.
IMPACT:
Apparently, most of this information is old news by now. I mean, we all know that the WMDs weren’t there but now I feel like people are just pointing fingers. The reason for the war, one could argue, is because of the CIA. They knew there were no WMDs and yet they still let people believe it solely for the purpose of going to war. Obviously, due to this, they will be the ones impacted the most, although it is doubtful that they will face any repercussions for this. However, there have also been many involved with the CIA that have been negatively impacted, like Colin Powell, who stepped down shortly after this information was released.
OPINION:
To this, my question would be did the CIA know the WMDs didn’t exist the entire time, or did they learn about the lack of WMDs after the United States began looking for them? For this particular occurrence, it depends on who knew what and when. If they didn’t know the Weapons weren’t there until after we started looking into them, that’s one thing. However, if they were aware that the WMDs weren’t there the whole time, that’s a different story. Either way, something should have been done when it was learned that the weapons did not exist, and perhaps a war could have been avoided.