David Kay

In a direct challenge to the administration, which says its invasion of Iraq was justified by the presence of illicit arms, Kay said that he had concluded there were no Iraqi stockpiles to be found.

"I don't think they existed," Kay said. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the '90s," he said.

Kay's departure had been expected but the manner of his going was not. The CIA announced earlier that former U.N. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who has previously expressed doubts that unconventional weapons would be found, would succeed Kay.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 31, 2004
(C) All rights reserved