Prologue

Host Ira Glass tells the story of a report by the U.S. intelligence community back in October 2002 that declared that the likelihood of Saddam Hussein using weapons of massive destruction was very low for the "foreseeable future"...unless the U.S. were to launch a military attack on Iraq. In other words, the war to stop him from using weapons of mass destruction would probably cause the thing it was designed to prevent. Ira talks with Senator Bob Graham, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who asked the intelligence community to do this risk assessment, and who was surprised it didn't have more effect on the public debate over the war. Before he and Ira get off the phone, the Senator asks Ira to please pose a few questions about the intelligence report to the Administration for him. (7 minutes)