The UN Security Council never approved of the war, so any reason given to them is no longer important. We invaded Iraq based upon PREVIOUS UN resolutions, which authorized force to enforce if necessary. The US Congress also authorized force and this WAS NOT conditional on WMDs. The United States DOES NOT require UN permission to protect our national security.
Exactly!
I may be really wrong, but I could have sworn that I heard that the Bush Administration may have emphasized the WMD's to get the original resolution that was passed 15-0.
But, when Saddam didn't let the new weapons inspectors do their job, the President then went to the Congress---
Ya know, as we get older, our memory is questionable, so I may be totally wrong---
I am sure of one thing, though, and that is that all of the hoops that Bush was made to jump through gave Saddam plenty of time to stash the weapons in Syria or elsewhere. That is my story and I'm stickin' with it!