“When the classified assessment [that was requested by October 1, 2002, by vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Bob Graham (D-FL)] was finally submitted, the conclusions about Iraq’s WMD went a step further than those in the December 2000 report [a National Intelligence Estimate titled ‘Iraq: Steadily Pursuing WMD Capabilities’]. Much of the evidence on chemical and biological weapons was similar to that of the earlier estimate but the caveats were omitted. The new report asserted flatly that Iraq was producing poison gas and possessed chemical and biological weapons. The 100 metric tons of chemical agents that were cited in the December 2000 report had grown to as much as 500 metric tons. The study also asserted that Iraq’s program to make germ weapons was bigger than ever. In an important departure from the 2000 report, the estimate noted that Iraq was moving to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program. …Only the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research challenged the nuclear case in its entirety and its dissent was registered in a footnote in the document. The estimate also warned that Iraq’s oil sales had increased its ability to covertly finance its weapons program.”
– Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor, Cobra II, Pages 147-148