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Regarding Iraqs 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 Nixons interrogations of Hussein that cast doubt on the Bush administrations 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 didnt want to hear that many of the reasons for going after Saddam were based on false premises, he writes.
I asked about the CIAs belief that Saddam suffered great pain from a bad back and had given up red meat and cigars. He said he didnt 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.