Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option. Not in a post-September 11th world. Colin Powell, address to United Nations
Saddam Hussein already possesses two out of the three components needed to build a nuclear bomb. ibid.
Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons. ibid.
Iraqis continue to visit bin Laden in his new home in Afghanistan. ibid.
My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources. Solid sources. These are not assertions. ibid.
We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been re-built. Condoleezza Rice, July 2001
We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud. Condoleezza Rice 8th September 2002
Obviously they didn’t go into Iraq for weapons of mass destruction for the simple reason that the United States provided Saddam Hussein with all his weapons of mass destruction or the precursors. So the US knew exactly what was in there. They had to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. Alan Simpson, energy consultant
The failure to find Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction has raised serious questions about the legitimacy and legality of the ongoing war in Iraq. But as both American and Iraqi casualties escalate and as the conflict becomes more chaotic and deadly by the day, debate within the United States continues to focus narrowly on whether American intelligence agencies provided accurate enough information to justify going to war. In the process, a larger question has been all but ignored. If the war was not about weapons of mass destruction, what is it really about? Hijacking Catastrophe
Tonight British service men and women are engaged from air, land and sea – their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair, televised address
That there is a threat from Saddam Hussein and from the weapons of mass destruction he’s acquired is not in doubt at all. Tony Blair, 11th March 2002, press conference with Dick Cheney
1982: US provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians. Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, 2002
1983: White House secretly gives Iran weapons to kill Iraqis. ibid.
1990: Iraq invades Kuwait with weapons from the US. ibid.
Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. George W Bush
Saddam Hussein is a homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction. George W Bush
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraqi regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. George W Bush
He has attempted to purchase high strength aluminium tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. George W Bush, congressional address
Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths and spent enormous sums, taking great risks to build and keep Weapons of Mass Destruction. ibid.
One thing we know is that he had a weapons program. George W Bush
It is somewhat puzzling I think that you can have a 100% certainty about the weapons of mass destruction’s existence, and zero certainty about where they are. Hans Blix, Chief UN Weapons Inspector
A citizen’s team of weapons inspectors. Our mission: to check out Britain’s and America’s weapons of mass destruction and to be sure they both abide by the treaties. Mark Thomas, Weapons Inspector
And it’s not just the chemical stuff; the military have also been pumping money into research on biological weapons. ibid.
This is the Vickers machine gun: arguably one of the most efficient and effective machines ever invented. Sam Willis, Sword, Musket and Machine Gun, BBC 2017
They’ve also driven advances in science, technology and even medicine. ibid.
Weapons also shaped our identity and defined our history. ibid.
A medieval arms race … The Vikings overran Britain with a fearsome arsenal. ibid.
Harold’s army consisted entirely of infantry. ibid.
12th century: the sword would be transformed from a versatile close-combat weapon into one of mythic proportion. ibid.
The crossbow: this weapon allowed a more detached method of killing. ibid.
This was Edward’s secret weapon that he had brought to France concealed in carts: cannon, and this was their first appearance in pitched battle. ibid.
In the 13th century, an age of magic and witchcraft, whispers of a Chinese creation of an extraordinary fiery power reached an English scientist and monk, Roger Bacon. Sam Willis, Sword, Musket and Machine Gun II
Castle walls were bombarded … ‘The great iron murderer’. ibid.
A hand-gunner would be lucky to fire a shot a minute … The infantry gun was more novelty than threat …. In the sixteenth century it all changed … The first truly effective battlefield gun. ibid.
The days of armour were numbered. ibid.
Guns could be made smaller than ever before. ibid.
The Saltpeter men became synonymous with the abuse of power. ibid.
A fearsome gun that took soldiers’ firepower to an entirely new level: the musket. ibid.
Often the real killer was infection. ibid.
An eccentric American inventor built a gun that shook the world … This was the Maxim gun. Sam Willis, Sword, Musket & Machine Gun III
We made over three million of them – the Brown Bess musket. ibid.
Shrapnel was still being deployed to deadly effect in the First World War. ibid.
But the British didn’t show the same restraint with their colonies that they did back home. ibid.
How can you lose something as conspicuous as an atomic bomb? Phenomenon: The Lost Archives: Irretrievably Lost: The Search for the Savannah Warhead
On February 13th 1950 America loses its first atomic bomb … in the Pacific. ibid.
1956: Over the Sahara desert but no trace of the bomber, its crew or its nuclear cargo is ever found. ibid.
Some crashes were different; some involved nuclear bombs. ibid.
Rockets capable of destroying entire cities. Fire that burns underwater. And fighter jets that fly without pilots. Throughout history advances in technology have led to the development of powerful weapons each more deadly than the last. But were these lethal weapons the product of human innovation, or were the developed with help from another more other-worldly source? Ancient Aliens s3e9: Aliens and Deadly Weapons, History 2011
There are enough nuclear weapons on Earth to wipe out the human race. We have already stood on the very brink of Armageddon. The race for nuclear supremacy has fuelled a world of conspiracy, deceit and espionage. It is a race in which spies risked their lives to betray their country, their friends and their family. And at its heart lies the world’s best-kept secrets. Nuclear Secrets I: The Spy from Moscow, BBC 2007
His [Penkovsky] offer to spy for the West reached Washington but the CIA failed to make contact. ibid.
Penkovsky made an astonishing claim that turned Cold-War perceptions on their head: the Soviets were way behind in the nuclear race, but Khrushchev was planning an all-out nuclear attack. ibid.
Penkovsky was going back behind the Iron Curtain as the Cold War intensified still further. ibid.
In May 1963 Penkovsky & Wynn were tried in Moscow. The KGB had arrested Wynn in Hungary – sentenced to eight years, he was released within eighteen months in a spy exchange. Oleg Penkovsky received the sentence of a common traitor. ibid.
1945: America prepares to unleash the most destructive weapon ever seen. It’s the dawn of the nuclear age … a weapon of mass murder created by men of genius – but one is a communist spy: Dr K Fuchs. Nuclear Secrets II: Superspy
Fuchs was against any country having a monopoly on the bomb. ibid.
The Soviets were progressing fast building four secret nuclear cities to service the bomb project. ibid.
In six London meetings Fuchs passed on ninety documents of nuclear secrets. ibid.