US senators want to talk to Kay about Iraqi WMD

David Kay is one of a number of US officials who have recently adjusted their position on Saddam's weapons capabilities.

As special adviser to CIA Director George Tenet, Kay was chosen last year as the Iraq Survey Group leader in part because he was convinced weapons would be found. "My suspicions are that we'll find in the chemical and biological areas, in fact, I think there may be some surprises coming rather quickly in that area," he said on CNN in June.

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Now, Kay, who was scheduled to testify before a Senate committee Wednesday, says he believes large stocks of weapons are unlikely to be found and blamed faulty intelligence for the misguided assessments.

Kay resigned Friday, saying he was stepping down because resources were being shifted away from the search.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., called the Wednesday hearing to receive Kay's views directly, even though Kay no longer has an official government position.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that it's premature to speculate about "why we were wrong," and rejected Kay's statement that the work in Iraq is 85 percent done.

"Even if we are 85 percent done, what could you have in that 15 percent of information?" the US official said. "The amount of chemical and biological agent that would be required is extremely small in terms of physical footprint. It could be easily hidden."

AFP adds: A British newspaper reported yesterday that US Vice President Dick Cheney had backed away from asserting that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite repeatedly making such claims before the war against Saddam Hussein's regime last year.

Cheney, who was speaking in Rome late Tuesday to a number of European newspapers before the end of a four-day visit to Europe, defended the US decision to invade Iraq last March, the Financial Times reported.