[Consort]

Prior to the war, the United States failed to produce compelling evidence of Iraqi WMD or ties to al-Qaeda.

The a priori existence of WMD is what pre-emption is based on. That's the absolute reality and ontological premise of the Bush Doctrine.

[Jolly Rodgers]

The a priori existence of WMD is what pre-emption is based on.

Iraq never did possess WMD. The did possess chemical weapons at one point in history, and they did have an active biological research program. That was all prior to Desert Storm. Those materials and programs were subsequently destroyed, as evidenced by the current lack of their existence. Their only true WMD program was bombed by Israel many years ago and has never been reconstituted. The remnants were tagged and bagged and under continuing inspection by the UN.

So, to claim a priori as the justification is to confess having waged war on a false and immoral assumption.