In the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, no significant stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction were found. What happened to the WMD? It is not my area of expertise, nor do I have access to special sources of information. Here are a few notes and links and conjectures about this important question.
1) Most intelligence agencies of the West were convinced that Iraq had WMD. There was no real "slam dunk" case, but "If it were a fact, it wouldn't be intelligence." In the 2004 election political debate, the anti-Bush camp hurls the epithet: "Bush Lied!" - but objective evidence doesn't support that. There was evidence, but no fact, there were strong suspicions, and there was fear among the Bush camp, especially advocated by Vice President DicK Cheney that the nexus between Terrorists and WMD supplying states like Iraq was not an acceptable risk for the U.S.
2) Why did Saddam not come clean with U.N. inspectors? It is possible that Saddam thought he had WMDs, and that his WMD scientists lied to him about the extent of what was being produced, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of corruption. It is also possible that Saddam disposed of most of his WMDs but did not want to admit it to the world because he saw WMD as his only hedge against his real regional opponent: Iran. However, it's hard to believe he would let his country fall to U.S. invasion while trying to secure a WMD based threat against Iran. However, it may take an understanding of Saddam's psychology and Middle Eastern culture to really judge what drove Saddam's decision.
3) There is emerging evidence that some WMD materials were shipped to Syria and or Iran before the war.
Duelfer: 'A lot of material left Iraq and went to Syria
A terror attack against the U.S. embassy in Jordan was foiled by Jordania police. The attack included truckloads of chemical poisons that were claimed could kill 80,000 people. Was the chemical just pesticide, or WMD from Iraq?
In October 2004, news reports emerged that unbelievably large stockpiles of high explosives were missing from the AlQaQaa facility in Iraq. The quantity missing would have required convoys of trucks and laborers to remove. Presidential candidate John Kerry used this revelation to attack President George Bush with accusations of incompetence and mismanagement. However, adding more credence to the Duelfer report claim that "a lot of material went to Syria", there are also reports that these explosives may have been moved to Syria with the assistance of Russian Special Forces as part of a prewar campaign by Russia to clean up evidence of its assistance to Iraq during the period of U.N. sanctions (when they should not have been selling arms to Iraq.)
It is possible that Saddam thought he could survive a U.S. invasion of Iraq, and re-emerge as the victorious leader after a period of insurgent warfare to expel the coalition forces. This might explain why he would export and preserve his WMD capability in Syria, although there is said to be a great animosity between Syria and Iraq, which would call into question how Saddam could trust Syria to support him in such a dire situation.
4) There are reports that Iraq may have cooperated with Libya, and Egypt to conduct WMD research programs outside of Iraq. This would have been a brilliant and logical strategy because the focus of WMD inspections was always restricted to within the borders of Iraq. It would also echo history, as Hitler's Germany conducted its prohibited military build up prior to World War 2 in countries like Poland and Spain.
5) The Duelfer Report cited evidence that although no large stockpiles of WMDs were found (this point latched onto by most major news media) - it was a fact that Saddam's Iraq preserved numerous research efforts to restart a WMD program once it had emerged from the U.N. Sanctions regime imposed upon it. Charles Duelfer testified before the U.S. Senate: "Saddam sought to sustain the requisite knowledge base to restart the program eventually."
It is difficult to say what kind of world we would be living in if the U.S. had never invaded Iraq. Much has been made of the mismanagement of the postwar reconstruction in Iraq, and of the questionable legitimacy of the invasion if WMDs are never to be found. However, we should not forget the alternative: an Iraq which would emerge from U.N. sanctions, with WMD production capabilities destined to be restored, and with a despot who saw himself as a great leader of the Arab people. This alone would not be unacceptable, but in the post 9-11 world, and the clash of the West with radical Islam, it would have had an added dimension of looming threats to the United States and its allies.
1:16:08 PM 
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