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Give Up 'Delusional Hope' of Iraq WMD, Kay Says
By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials should give up the "delusional
hope" that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction so they can move
forward with reform, David Kay, who once led the U.S. hunt for banned
weapons, said on Wednesday. "I think it's most important that the president of the United States
recognizes that in fact the weapons are not there," Kay told reporters
after speaking at The Government Security Expo and Conference. "It's because until you do that you will not take this fundamental
reorganization of the intel community on board," he said. Officials
such as acting CIA Director John McLaughlin "hold out the delusional
hope that eventually you'll find weapons," Kay said. Kay stepped down from the CIA-appointed position of chief U.S. weapons
hunter in January, and said he did not believe Iraq had banned weapons
when the United States invaded. The United States justified the invasion by saying Baghdad posed a threat
because it had biological and chemical weapons and was reviving its nuclear
weapons program. No stockpiles of banned weapons have been found. Leaders of U.S. intelligence agencies must recognize, "Duh, we've
failed, therefore we have to change," Kay said. He said he was optimistic
that change could occur. The Sept. 11 Commission's final report recommended overhauling U.S. intelligence,
including creating a national director to oversee the 15 spy agencies.
A new top post was insufficient, and the agencies need new capabilities,
including better technologies for "close-in" spying rather than
relying on spy satellites, which scoop up vast amounts of electronic communications,
Kay said. A new national director post also must be independent, not located in
the executive office of the president, Kay said. "If you're on such friendly terms with the president that you can
answer a concern the president may have about the quality about your intelligence
with a trite sports I 'It's a slam dunk' and the president or the national
security adviser don't come down your throat, you're way too close to
power," he said. It was a reference to former CIA Director George Tenet's reported reply
to President Bush when asked before the war how sure he was that Iraq
had banned weapons. "It needs to be someone who does not mind being up to their kneecaps
in blood. They're not concerned with winning the popularity contest, they're
not really concerned about leaks to the press about them," Kay said.
Kay said "one of the greatest misnomers" was referring to the
spy agencies as an intelligence community. "It has none of the characteristics
of a community. It's a group of feuding empires that don't like direction,"
he said.
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