Actually, neither President Bush nor his aides ever said anything about "stockpiles" in describing the Iraqi weapons threat. The Times just made that part up.

--John Hinderaker of the Claremont Institute, at Power Line Blog ("The blog is excellent--I'll make it regular reading!" --Rich Lowry, editor of National Review)


United Nations' inspections also revealed that Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons.

--President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, September 12, 2002

For the sake of your children's future, we must make sure this madman never has the capacity to hurt us with a nuclear weapon, or to use the stockpiles of anthrax that we know he has, or V-X, the biological weapons which he possesses.

--President Presses Congress for Action on Defense Appropriations Bill, Remarks by the President at Bob Beauprez for Congress Luncheon, The Adams Mark Hotel, Denver, Colorado, September 27, 2002

In defiance of pledges to the United Nations, Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons.

--President's Radio Address to the Nation, October 5, 2002

The inspectors concluded that Iraq likely produced two to four times that amount. That's a massive stockpile, and it's never been accounted for and it's capable of killing millions.

--Excerpts from the Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer, January 15, 2003

Iraq has also failed to provide United Nations inspectors with documentation of its claim to have destroyed its VX stockpiles.

--"Why We Know Iraq is Lying," A Column by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, New York Times, January 23, 2003

Second, as with biological weapons, Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents....

Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets.

--U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Addresses the U.N. Security Council, February 5, 2003

United Nations' inspections revealed that Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons.

--pre-war "fact sheet"

The outlaw Iraqi regime's chemical and biological weapons stockpiles, its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and its ties to global terrorists are a threat to the US, our allies and friends and to the Iraqi people.

--"Global Message," February 18, 2003

(All quotes from whitehouse.gov. Thanks to Pandagon for the Power Line link.)