[lit-ideas] On who lied about WMDs?

The only complaint I have thus far against Norman Podhoretz is that in his book 
World War IV, The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism, he doesn't provide 
footnotes.  For example, in his chapter, on page 158, "The Radicalization of 
the Democrats," he has the following"

"Even more telling would be the belated admission by Senator John Edwards, who 
as John Kerry's running mate in 2004 had silently acquiesced in the excuse that 
Bush's lies about weapons of mass destruction had misled him and others, that 
the lie was on the other foot:

'I was convinced that Saddam had chemical and biological weapons and was doing 
everything in his power to get nuclear weapons. . . . I didn't rely on George 
Bush for that.  And I personally think there's some dishonesty in suggesting 
that members of the United States Senate relied on George Bush for that 
information, because I don't think it's true.  It's great politics.  But it's 
not the truth. . . .   I've just heard people way, "Well, you know, George Bush 
. . . misled us."  . . . I was there, it's not what happened. . . .  I was on 
the Intelligence Committee, so I got direct information from the intelligence 
community.  And then I had a series of meetings with former Clinton 
administration people.  And they were all saying the same thing.  Everything I 
was hearing in the Intelligence Committee was the same thing I was hearing from 
these guys.  And there was nary a dissenting voice.'"

I sought the source for this quote and found:

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=GAILEY-01-15-07  in 
which the following words appear:  "In an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in 
the latest issue of The New Yorker, Edwards said: "I was convinced that Saddam 
had chemical and biological weapons and was doing everything in his power to 
get nuclear weapons. There was some disparity in the information I had about 
how far along he was in that process. I didn't rely on George Bush for that. 
And I personally think there's some dishonesty in suggesting that members of 
the United States Senate relied on George Bush for that information, because I 
don't think it's true. It's great politics. But it's not the truth."
Edwards refused to single out anyone, but Goldberg wrote that he appeared to be 
referring to John Kerry, who chose Edwards as his 2004 presidential running 
mate. Like Nelson, Kerry claims he was misled and "given evidence that was not 
true."
"I was on the intelligence committee," Edwards went on, "so I got direct 
information from the intelligence community. And then I had a series of 
meetings with former Clinton administration people. And they were all saying 
the same thing. Everything I was hearing in the intelligence committee was the 
same thing I was hearing from these guys. And there was nary a dissenting 
voice."

I subsequently found Jeffrey Goldberg's article: 
http://www.jeffreygoldberg.net/articles/tny/letter_from_washington_the_sta.php  
It is interesting.  I was struck especially by how closely Hillary Clinton's 
position seemed  to the Neocons on the exportation of Democracy.

Lawrence

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