The UN didn't say he had "none" (where do you get this perfectly counter-factual crap?!?) In fact it was the UN that maintained a catalog of what he had; and received his inventory of the weapons he admitted he had and was supposed to destroy.
The UN "knew," as did anyone actually paying attention, that he had WMD (which nobody with 1/16th of a clue denies he used against his own people and Iran), acknowledged he had WMD and was compelled by UNSC resolutions from the cease-fire in the Gulf War [687 (1991)], through 16 more UNSC resolutions not only to destroy the weapons the UN (and everyone else) knew he had, but to verify that destruction "under international supervision".
Note -- verification of the destruction of weapons the UN and others knew he had was not intended to be a "scavenger hunt" where UNMOVIC and IAEA were hoping to find Easter Eggs somewhere in Iraq. Nor were we going to take his word that he had, uh destroyed them; yeah, all of them; yesterday; yeah, you guys' would've loved to see it, yeah; but it's over and destroyed now, so you can go home.
It was Iraq's affirmative obligation, under penalty of force, not only to demonstrate the dismantling and destruction of WMD, but of the capacity to produce WMD, in each case "under international supervision". Fn1
Just as a fer'instance: Before the UN inspectors returned to Iraq in late 2002, Saddam's regime was suspected of possessing 8,500 liters of anthrax, a deadly agent that the Iraqis claimed to have destroyed.
The UN view, published on March 6, 2003, was not only that Iraq still had anthrax, the inspectors increased their estimate for the volume of unaccounted anthrax from 8,500 litres to 10,000 liters. As Iraq could produce little evidence of either production or destruction,
Blix's team concluded that:
"Based on all the available evidence, the strong presumption is that about 10,000 litres of anthrax was not destroyed and may still exist."
So WTF does the staggeringly ignorant phrase "when he had none, according to the UN" come from? Do you frequently opine in this manner that makes "wrong" too small a word?
The UN would establish and for 11 years attempt to effectively implement, a program requiring Iraq to "unconditionally accept the destruction, removal or rendering harmless, under international supervision" of WMD that "according to the UN" he had none of. Brilliant.
All this information is readily, publicly available. Is it too much to expect that you'd do even the most basic research before dropping an ignorance H-Bomb?
Knowing how loathe many are to actually read primary documents b/c they do such savagery to the convenient lies and conflations (like this gem: "when he had none, according to the UN") I don't expect many folks to seize the opportunity, again, to actually read
Resolution 1441 and/or any of the resolutions it incorporates by reference. But, for those few of you who will (even hoping for some pathetic "gotcha" language therein) please enjoy.
JP
fn1 -- from UN Security Council Resolution 687 (1991):
8. Decides that Iraq shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or rendering harmless,
under international supervision, of:
(a)
All chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities;
(b) All ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometres and related major parts, and repair and production facilities;
9. Decides, for the implementation of paragraph 8 above, the following:
(a) Iraq shall submit to the Secretary-General, within fifteen days of the adoption of the present resolution, a declaration of the locations, amounts and types of all items specified in paragraph 8 and agree to urgent, on-site inspection as specified below;
(b) The Secretary-General, in consultation with the appropriate Governments and, where appropriate, with the Director-General of the World Health Organization, within forty-five days of the passage of the present resolution, shall develop, and submit to the Council for approval, a plan calling for the completion of the following acts within forty-five days of such approval:
(i) The forming of a Special Commission, which shall carry out immediate on-site inspection of Iraq's biological, chemical and missile capabilities, based on Iraq's declarations and the designation of any additional locations by the Special Commission itself;
(ii) The yielding by Iraq of possession to the Special Commission for destruction, removal or rendering harmless, taking into account the requirements of public safety, of all items specified under paragraph 8 (a) above, including items at the additional locations designated by the Special Commission under paragraph 9 (b) (i) above and the destruction by Iraq, under the supervision of the Special Commission, of all its missile capabilities, including launchers, as specified under paragraph 8 (b) above;
(iii) The provision by the Special Commission of the assistance and cooperation to the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency required in paragraphs 12 and 13 below;
10. Decides that Iraq shall
unconditionally undertake not to use, develop, construct or acquire any of the items specified in paragraphs 8 and 9 above and requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Special Commission, to develop a plan for the future ongoing monitoring and verification of Iraq's compliance with this paragraph, to be submitted to the Security Council for approval within one hundred and twenty days of the passage of this resolution;
Edited to clarify reference to the UN Security Council.