Debating Iraq’s nuclear threat

Washington, D.C.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice this week defended her claim before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein was trying to rebuild his nuclear program. Prior to last year’s invasion, Rice said Iraq had tried to obtain aluminum tubes that were “only really suited for nuclear weapons.” But The New York Times reported that the Energy Department had told Rice aides that the tubes were likely intended for conventional rockets. Rice said she was aware that some officials had disagreed with the CIA assessment that the tubes were part of a nuclear weapons program, but she said Saddam could not be given the benefit of the doubt. “If you underestimate the nuclear threat of a tyrant,” she said, “you make a really big mistake.”

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