There were a lot of "what ifs" which were clearly designed to highten fear and anxiety to build support for the war that they had already decided.
Think about it. Rumpsfelds comments that they had not new intelligence since before Sept 11 really means that they must have already decided on it !
All the time given to weapons inspectors and so on were accedemic - it was clear that the date for the start of the war was decided and they did everything to speed it up, no matter what the Iraqi's did or how much they cooperated (and the inspectors ssaid they were getting real cooperation). They had their own schedule of when it needed to start and it did, right on cue.
The switch is unbelievably transparent. Once the war was underway they gradually switched to "we're liberating the people" instead of looking for WMD and now that people are asking questions the language has changed
Before the war, Blair said they would find WMD. Now, he's saying they will find evidence of programmes (a desire) to have WMD. It's not the same. If they think a few pieces of paper are a good reason to go to war then god help us all !
The lack of urgency to find the weapons if damning. If one of the reasons for invading was to prevent them falling into the hands of Al Quida then why the delay in looking for them? The obviously knew that they weren't there and only had a half-hearted search. In fact, it's only this week, months after the end of the war, that the British have a team earmarked to look for them.
No one is disputing that Saddam was a bad man and it's better he's gone but they have lied to us and it's not an irrelevant issue: with all trust gone, what if a real emergency happens and they do need our trust? They've 'played their joker' and they can't play it again. Next time the stakes could be much higher because other contries are not in the weakened state that the Iraq army was in (which even so, put up a surprising unforseen fight).
It also raises questions about the motive for doing it. Was it really for the people to save them from the regime that was previously supported for so long? Is it the oil? Will similar action be taken against other equally bad regimes? Will trade with these countries be at least halted?
One thing is certain, going to Bush and Blair for the truth is a pointless exercise.