Who would have predicted that the question about WMDs in Iraq would surface in both the Republican and Democratic presidential debates? It is worth addressing since it has become an issue and since there are young voters who either were not around then or were not old enough to participate in the discussion and debate that took place.

John Hawkins put together a short column on the subject to remind those of us who may have forgotten some of the debate and to educate those who weren’t around to participate in the debate. He reminds us that our government as well as numerous foreign intelligence agencies believed that Saddam Hussein had an active WMD program. The CIA Director at the time said that it was a “slam dunk” that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They even intercepted conversations where Iraqi officials spoke as if Saddam continued to possess these weapons.

It is also worth remembering that many prominent Democrats who had access to the same intelligence as the president came to the same conclusion. This would include Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, and Nancy Pelosi. Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq war, but you can even find statements by him that seem to support his belief that WMDs did exist in Iraq.

At the time, former UN weapons inspectors also believed there were WMDs. Nearly twenty former inspectors from the United Nations Special Commission also believed that Iraq was operating a centrifuge plant to enrich uranium. Add to this the number of American troops and American-trained troops who repeatedly encountered (and were sometimes wounded by) chemical weapons remaining from stockpiles created by Saddam Hussein.

These are just a few facts to remember the next time someone accuses President Bush of lying about WMDs in order to get the U.S. into the Iraq war.