"For that, I am not only disappointed but I regret that that information was not correct," said Powell (AFP)

WASHINGTON, October 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that Iraq had no "actual stockpiles" of the alleged weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the US-led invasion of the oil-rich Arab country.

In press statements on Friday, October 1, a day after President George Bush and his Democratic contender John Kerry butted heads on foreign policy in the first of three debates, Powell regretted incorrect intelligence on Iraq’s alleged WMDs in his February 5, 2003, presentation to the UN Security Council.

"The only thing where we got it wrong and where the presentation did not hold up was actual stockpiles," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Powell as telling reporters at the Atlanta Press Club.

"We have seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles.

"So that was not right, and as we have gone back and looked through the intelligence, there are indications that we had bad sourcing and we should have caught some of this bad sourcing," Powell admitted.

"For that, I am not only disappointed but I regret that that information was not correct."

This is the first time that the top American diplomat admits that the American intelligence on Iraq’s weapons was incorrect.

In April, Powell only acknowledged that the pre-war intelligence he gave the United Nations  to justify the invasion-turned occupation of Iraq was not "solid", heaping the blame on the intelligence community.

The Guardian had said that the doubts had already emerged at a private meeting  between Powell and his British counterpart Jack Straw shortly before Powell’s presentation.

At a private meeting with Powell at the Waldorf hotel in New York, Straw expressing concern that the WMDs claims parroted by the US administration could not be proved.

Intentions

However, Powell said that despite regrets, Bush had still been right to go to war, claiming Iraq had intended to produce such weapons.

"Those stockpiles would have reappeared since he (Saddam Hussein) was no longer under observation or control by the international community," he argued later at the State Department after meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht.

A draft report by top US weapons inspector in Iraq, Charles Duelfer, concluded on September 17 that Iraq had no WMD, raising concerns the invasion of the oil-rich country was based on false pretexts.

The Duelfer report appears to back the view of his predecessor, David Kay, who had resigned over failure to find any such weapons and said he had come to the conclusion that Iraq had no stockpiles of banned weapons before the invasion.

International Legitimacy

Powell dismissed criticism that Bush was alienating allies by pursuing a unilateral foreign policy that ignored the concerns of friends and allies and was exacerbating anti-American sentiment abroad.

"I don't accept that characterization," he said, noting that the Bush administration had sought UN approval on the Iraq question and was working within the UN system or through separate multilateral processes on concerns about Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs.

"Every time we have faced one of these challenges, the United States has not acted unilaterally, we have gone to the United Nations," he claimed.

Now nineteen months after the US-led invasion, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called the war to occupy the oil-rich country "illegal" because it lacked a cleaer mandate from the UN Security Council.

"Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter from our point of view, from the chapter point of view, it was illegal," Annan said in an interview with the BBC.

CNN recently said Washington had reconsidered its unilateral approach after it insisted on invading Iraq with or without a UN backing.

In a report marking the 59th session of the UN General Assembly,  America’s all-news network noted that Washington is now using the United Nations as a tool to legitimize its actions.

It cited, in this respect, a recently-passed series of resolutions on Sudan and Syria.