The Truth About WMD
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
Remember the mobile labs, the giant truck trailers we were told were rolling factories for weapons of mass destruction?
Last week The Washington Post broke a most disturbing story about the labs and the way the Bush Administration continued to insist the were what they were not.
As major fighting — as it was then called in Iraq — came to a close, the trailers were found. A team of specialists was dispatched to analyze them and report back. On May 27, 2003, the team reported the trailers were definitely not used to make biological weapons. Definitely not.
Days later, President Bush referring to the trailers said, "We found the WMD." Weeks later, so did Secretary of State Colin Powell. Months later, so did Vice President Dick Cheney.
The trailers were the most important evidence of WMD — yet the truth about them either didn't reach the top, or people at the top preferred their truth to the real truth. Neither explanation is acceptable.
,Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.