There's also the following from the Danner debate, now with a transcript available. He seems to be referring to connections to Al-Qaeda, not WMD, but either way, the bit about "extraordinary confidence on their faces" is really astonishing. If I recall right, in his response to Doug he said that he took back nothing in this debate.
http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/03/03-01hitchensdanner-qa.html Incidentally, this transcript seems a bit off. I haven't relistened to it, but I could swear that Hitchens said that "it will be rapid and accurate and *dazzling* enough...", not "overwhelming". All the links, audio, video, and text, are availble from Peter K.'s page. ------------------------------------------- What do I think is going to happen? I've been in London and Washington a lot lately and I can tell you that the spokesmen for Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush walk around with a look of extraordinary confidence on their faces as if they know something that when disclosed, will dissolve the doubts, the informational doubts at any rate, of people who wonder if there is enough evidence.
Danner: It's amazing they've been able to keep it to themselves for so long.
Hitchens: I know perfectly well that there are many people who would not be persuaded by this evidence even if was dumped on their own doorstep, because the same people didn't believe that it was worth fighting in Afghanistan even though the connection between the Taliban and Al Qaeda was clear.
But I think we know enough. What will happen will be this: The president will give an order, there will then occur in Iraq a show of military force like nothing probably the world has ever seen. It will be rapid and accurate and overwhelming enough to deal with an army or a country many times the size of Iraq. That will be greeted by the majority of Iraqi and Kurdish people as a moment of emancipation, which will be a pleasure to see, and then the hard work of the reconstitution of Iraqi society and the repayment of our debt - some part of our debt to them - can begin, and I say bring it on. -------------------------------------------