Kay says 'we were all wrong'

Published January 29, 2004

WASHINGTON, Jan 28: The former US chief weapons hunter David Kay called Wednesday for a review of the US intelligence failure over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction but insisted political pressure was not to blame.

"We were all wrong," Kay told the US Senate Armed Service Committee as he was subjected to intense questioning about his explosive disclosure that a six month search had found no evidence that Iraq had banned weapons before the US invasion in March.

Kay disputed suggestions that US intelligence was warped by political pressure from the administration of President George W. Bush. "It turns out we were all wrong, probably, in my judgement. And that is most disturbing."

Kay, who resigned last week as head of the Iraq Survey Group, said the investigation should continue and acknowledged "the theoretical possibility" that hidden weapons might yet be found. An "unresolvable ambiguity" about Iraq's weapons programs would probably remain, he said.-AFP

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