John Bolton: Bush never said Saddam was ‘imminent threat’

therawstory
David Edwards and Josh Catone
Published: Sunday March 25, 2007

Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton on CNN’s Late Edition today made the case that, over four years into the Iraq war, removing Saddam Hussein was “unquestionably” the right thing to do, even though he did not turn out to have the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction that formed the basis for the Bush administration’s case for going to war.

“[Saddam Hussein] and his regime were the threat to international peace and security. The president never made the argument that he constituted an imminent threat,” Bolton said.

However, on more than one occasion, administration officials used the term “imminent threat” to describe Iraq in the run up to the war.