Eliminating Adversary WMD: Lessons for Future Conflicts. Strategic Forum. Number 211, October 2004

Abstract

Abstract : The failure to find substantial evidence of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in Iraq has exposed serious weaknesses in the U.S. understanding of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat posed by its adversaries and in its ability to deal with these threats. A rancorous and highly politicized debate, primarily about the intelligence assessments of Iraqi WMD capabilities before Operation Iraqi Freedom, has dominated the national discussion of WMD in Iraq for months. Although Iraqi WMD capabilities remain elusive and, indeed, weapons may never be found, elimination operations conducted there provide important lessons. The United States must begin to develop a permanent capability to plan for and conduct WMD elimination operations. The Department of Defense (DOD) in particular must begin to build such a capability as part of its overall approach to combating WMD proliferation. To be effective, however, DOD must work in concert with interagency partners and avoid a go-it-alone approach to this national priority. preparations began for Operation Iraqi Freedom, policymakers and military planners began to wrestle with the challenges posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). confronting Saddam Hussein. Just as in the first Gulf War in 1991, deterring and defending against possible Iraqi use of WMD against coalition forces were key concerns for planners. However, as the crisis escalated in 2002, Department of Defense (DOD) planners began to foresee another challenge: how to remove comprehensively and permanently the threat of Iraqi WMD, not just to U.S. troops but also to the Middle East region and the world.