Here is further evidence that although there was good intelligence indicating that Saddam had no WMD, and that the President was briefed on this by George Tenet, Bush simply did not want to hear it and so Tenet kept it quiet, instead playing up the scary allegations of a known fabricator -- the infamous Curveball -- and giving the imprimatur of the DCI to Bush's imaginary threat-world.
And here's an account which suggests that as late as April 2006 Bush continued to disbelieve the evidence, all but conclusive after three years of searching, that there was no WMD in Iraq. As of mid-2006, about half of the American public erroneously believed that Iraq had possessed WMD at the time the US attacked:
beliefs about whether the government of Saddam Hussein still had WMD in 2003 were highly related to attitudes about whether going to war in Iraq was justified. Those who believed Saddam Hussein had WMD or an ongoing program to develop such weapons also believed overwhelmingly (85%) that going to war was the right decision. However, those who did not believe the Iraqi dictator had WMD or a major weapons program were overwhelmingly convinced (95%) that the invasion was wrong.
Bush believed what he wanted to believe; he was enabled by toadies, sycophants, neocons and Cheney, who squashed information which did not fit the president's belief-world, exaggerated any information (regardless of quality) that did fit; and then Bush and his administration told us untruths and more untruths which led to war and more war.
