The Road to Iraq: Weapons of Mass Destruction (Ep 1)
5/3/20261 hr 4 min
How did Saddam Hussein become one of history’s most notorious dictators? How did the Iran-Iraq war begin? And what really happened to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction?
Listen as David and Gordon begin their 6-part series on one of history’s biggest intelligence failures: Iraq WMD.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDavid McCloskey· Host0:00
[upbeat music] For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books, join the Declassified club at therestisclassified.com. A war in the Middle East over weapons of mass destruction. But what is the truth behind the Iraq War?
Speaker 1· Soundbite0:23
I don't remember an analytic failure in the history of CIA that was littered with so many analytic biases as Iraq WMD.
Tony Blair· Soundbite0:34
On Tuesday night, I gave the order for British forces to take part in military action in Iraq. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.
Speaker 30:46
Occasionally I do think, you know, did we get played a bit by the Americans?
Gordon Corera· Host0:50
He's relying on what they are told. The spies were the ones who got it wrong, rather than the politicians lying about it.
Speaker 30:58
I do see it as an intelligence failure.
Gordon Corera· Host1:00
If you look at Iraq now, I would argue strongly that there was a justification for the conflict.
David McCloskey· Host1:05
Do you have this war in Iran without the 2003 invasion of Iraq?
Gordon Corera· Host1:12
And it was a complete disaster. This episode is brought to you by HP.
David McCloskey· Host1:27
In intelligence work, it's rarely the obvious problem