
Regarding Iraq�s supposed weapons of mass destruction, the justification for the 2003 invasion, Hussein admits to Nixon that it was a mistake for him not to make clear before the war that he had long since gotten rid of them.
The findings from Nixon�s interrogations of Hussein that cast doubt on the Bush administration�s original justifications for the war, Nixon says, were ignored by senior officials at the CIA and the White House. �The policy makers at the White House and the leadership on the seventh floor at the CIA didn�t want to hear that many of the reasons for going after Saddam were based on false premises,� he writes.
�I asked about the CIA�s belief that Saddam suffered great pain from a bad back and had given up red meat and cigars. He said he didn�t know where I was getting my intelligence, but it was wrong. He told me he smoked four cigars every day and loved red meat. He was also surprisingly fit.�