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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Iraqs chemical weapons are back in the news. The New York Times reported that American troops found roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells and aviation bombs since the Iraq War began. Then last week The Washington Post reported the Islamic State had used chlorine gas against Iraqi police officers.

Whats going on? Weve been told Bush lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Now we learn theyve been showing up in the thousands and are toxic enough to injure people.

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The Times reporter stressed that the discovered items had been manufactured before 1991, arguing that they shouldnt count as evidence of active WMD programs which the Bush administration had claimed as an excuse for embarking on the Iraq war.

However the article failed to mention that the U.N. Security Council was concerned about destroying all Iraqi chemical weapons stocks, regardless of when they were manufactured. The discovery of these weapons proves that Saddam Hussein failed to fulfill his disarmament obligations under multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

And the compliance issue was at the very core of the Bush administrations case against Iraq at the United Nations.

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Saddam used chemical weapons late in the Iran-Iraq war. In March 1988, he used them against his own people, killing up to 5,000 Iraqi Kurds. The U.N. Security Council passed numerous resolutions documenting the legal case against Iraq over WMD. On April 3, 1991, the Security Council passed Resolution 687, requiring Iraq to destroy all of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and missiles that could deliver them. The United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was established to ensure Iraqs compliance.

Fast-forward to 2002 and U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, negotiated by the Bush administration. It deplored the fact that Iraq still had not provided accurate, full, final, and complete disclosure of its weapons programs as required by Resolution 687.

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KIM HOLMES: Uncomfortable truths: Explaining away Iraq's real WMD