Quotes by David Kay

“The Iraqis had over two decades to develop these weapons. And hiding them was an essential part of their program.”

“The weapons do not exist.”

“There was an absolutely closed mind,”

“There was an absolutely closed mind. They would not look at alternative explanations.”

“I dont want to estimate. I want to have proof.”

“There is no alternative to the replacement of Saddam.”

“There is a lot of proof [supporting the U.S. case against Iraq] -- the proof of failure to allow inspectors in and failure to allow inspectors, once in, to conduct inspections in an unfettered manner.”

“It turns out we were all wrong, and that is most disturbing.”

“real danger [was] not so much that Saddam would pass along the secrets of weapons of mass destruction, but scientists and engineers in their desperate desire to better themselves, to keep their families alive, might well have sold these secrets.”

“We do, after all, have the case of A.Q. Khan, who, for 20 years, sold secrets of nuclear weapons production to countries around the world, ... It took about 18 years before we discovered it and managed to stop it.”

I also believe that it is time to begin the fundamental analysis of how we got here, what led us here and what we need to do in order to ensure that we are equipped with the best possible intelligence as we face these issues in the future.

The Germans certainly - the intelligence service believed that there were WMD. It turns out that we were all wrong, probably in my judgment, and that is most disturbing.