In the debate between vice presidential candidates Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney on October 5, 2000, Cheney said, regarding the possibility that Iraq was developing WMD: ” ‘I also think it’s unfortunate that we find ourselves in the position where we don’t know for sure what might be transpiring inside Iraq. I certainly hope he’s [Saddam’s] not regenerating that kind of capability, but if he were–if Saddam Hussein were taking steps to try to rebuild nuclear capability or weapons of mass destruction, you’d have to give a very serious consideration to military action to stop that activity. I don’t think you can afford to have a man like Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons, say, in the Middle East.’ ”
– Stephen F. Hayes, Cheney, Page 318