8 January 2006
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter publishes "Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the U.N. and Overthrow Saddam Hussein." In the book, Ritter elucidates his account of Iraq's WMD holdings prior to 2003. He alleges that the CIA and the U.S. government's desire to undermine UNSCOM's success in Iraq kept economic sanctions in place longer than necessary. Ritter blames both the U.S. government and the Iraqi government for hindering inspection bodies that could have discovered that Iraq destroyed its nuclear program in 1991. Ritter is known for his opposition to the invasion due to his belief that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
--Walter Putnam, "Insider Recalls Hunt for WMD," Associated Press, 8 January 2006.

13 February 2006
Russia recommends that all material and findings collected by UNMOVIC and related inspection bodies such as the IAEA and the ISG be presented to the Security Council. Russia cites reasons for this recommendation as a way to bring full and final clarity to the much debated issue of Iraq's WMD programs.
--"Russia Wants All Iraq Inspections Files Referred to UN Security Council," Xinhua General News, 13 February 2006.

13 February 2006
The United Nations approves Secretary General Kofi Annan's recommendation that over $400,000, approximately 0.8 percent of annual Iraqi oil revenue, earmarked for the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq be credited instead toward Iraqi UN dues. The Security Council suggests that the sum be allocated for renovation of the New York UN complex, peacekeeping projects, tribunal activities, and other regular budget expenses.
--"Security Council Okays Use of Iraqi Funds for UN Dues," Xinhua, 13 February 2006.

22 March 2006
Documents are released to the press that were confiscated during the invasion of Iraq indicating Saddam tried to prove to international inspectors he had no WMD in order to get the sanctions against Iraq lifted. Transcripts show statements by Saddam and other high-ranking Iraqi officials claiming they had nothing, and wondering if UN inspectors would "roam for 50 years" in pursuit of nonexistent WMD in Iraq.
--"Documents Show Hussein Tried to Convince U.N. That Iraq Had No Weapons of Mass Destruction," Global Security Newswire, 22 March 2006.

27 March 2006
The federal government makes public a large portion of the documents seized during Operation Iraqi Freedom by posting them on the Internet. Intelligence officials say they will remove any sensitive information prior to their release. The release is believed to be a bid to attract nation-wide 'volunteers' for research purposes who have already begun posting comments, blogs, and translations of the material. Included in the posted documents are Iraqi memos, reports, training guides, transcripts, and audio/videotapes.
--Robert Tanner, "U.S. Agency Sets 'Power of the Internet' Upon Seized Iraqi Documents," Associated Press, 27 March 2006.

23 April 2006
Tyler Drumheller, a former high-ranking CIA official in Europe, accuses the Bush administration of "choosing to ignore" intelligence stating Iraq possessed no WMD or an active nuclear program prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Drumheller claims Naji Sabri, Iraq's Foreign Minister in the Ba'ath regime, provided the CIA with information that there were no active WMD in Iraq. Drumheller relates the reaction of the White House, saying they were not interested in the intelligence from Sabri, and instead replied, "This isn't about intel anymore. This is about regime change." Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is quoted as saying the reason Sabri was not believed was that he was a single source, whose story could not be corroborated.
--"Ex-CIA Official: WMD Evidence Ignored," CNN, 23 April 2006.

25 April 2006
IAEA safety expert Dennis Reisenweaver announces a project to begin cleaning Tuwaitha, one of Iraq's former primary nuclear facilities, of radioactive contamination. Tuwaitha was largely disassembled during the early 1990s by Iraqis and international inspectors. The site was then bombed in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom and subsequently looted by Iraqis. The current project is expected to last for many years, and involve combing the location for unknown burial sites of contaminated equipment and materials, as well as recovering lost records which determine the extent of radioactive materials in waste containers.
--Ian Traynor, "IAEA Launches Iraq Nuclear Site Cleanup," Guardian, 25 April 2006.

22 July 2006
The Iraqi Military Manufacturing Commission is to have 13 of its former companies reestablished, including the Nuclear Energy Organization. Previously, staff from the Nuclear Energy Organization had transferred to the Higher Education and Scientific Research Ministry.
--"Iraq Plans to Reinstate Staff of Former Nuclear Energy Organization," BBC, 22 July 2006.

29 June 2007
The Security Council passes Resolution 1762 terminating the mandates of the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the IAEA in Iraq. Resolution 1762 also requests the UN Secretary General to dispose safely of archives containing sensitive information and to transfer any remaining UNMOVIC funds to the Development Fund for Iraq. The IAEA's responsibilities are reduced to ensuring Iraqi compliance with standard safeguards agreements under the auspices of the NPT. A letter to the Security Council from the Iraqi government indicates it is committed to respecting its obligations to the nonproliferation regime.
-- Colum Lynch, "UN Security Council Dissolves Unit Looking for Iraqi Arms," The Washington Post, 30 June 2007, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; UN Security Council, "Iraq (UNMOVIC)," Security Council Report, Update Report No. 10, 26 June 2008.

18 February 2008
Foreign Secretary David Miliband releases a draft of the 2002 British Joint Intelligence Committee dossier to the public in response to the filing of a freedom of information request. Miliband claims that this document "was not used as the basis for later documents, drafted by the Joint Intelligence Committee." The document states that "Saddam had or was close to deploying weapons including long-range missiles and 'has acquired uranium' needed for a nuclear bomb."
-- Paul Waugh, "New Questions as Draft Iraq Dossier Finally Published," The Evening Standard (London), 18 February 2008, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; "British Iraq Dossier Surfaces, Without Crucial Weapons Claim," Associated Press, 19 February 2008, in Proquest.

5 June 2008
The Senate Intelligence Committee releases a report on Iraq's WMD program, stating that President Bush and top-level officials misled the public by presenting "intelligence as fact when it was unsubstantiated, contradicted or even nonexistent," according to Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the Senate Intelligence Committee's chairman. The report found that some claims made by the Bush administration to justify action against Iraq were not based on intelligence reports of the time, "such as suggestions that Saddam's Iraq and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda were operating in a kind of partnership." The report also asserts that the "claim by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that Iraq had concealed its stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in underground bunkers too deep to be destroyed by air power alone" was contradicted by intelligence from that time.
-- Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus, "Bush Inflated Threat From Iraq's Banned Weapons, Report Says," The Washington Post, 6 June 2008, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, "Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Claim," The New York Times, 6 June 2008 in Proquest; Scott Shane, "Exaggeration cited in lead up to war; Senate report accuses White House of using 9/11 to justify Iraq," The International Herald Tribune, 6 June 2008, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.

1 July 2008
The U.S. Department of State begins the Iraqi Nuclear Facility Dismantlement and Disposal Program, which will assist Iraq in dismantling and disposing radioactively contaminated materials leftover from Saddam's nuclear program (emphasizing the Al-Tuwaitha nuclear complex southeast of Baghdad). The program is a culmination of past efforts by the IAEA and Texas Tech's "Train and Engage" Program, who began training Iraqi scientists in 2005. It is funded by the U.S. Department of State, the U.K., and Iraq. Implementing organizations include Sandia National Laboratories, the Department of Energy, Texas Tech University, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Iraqi government officials in the Ministries of Science and Technology, Industry, and Environment.
—John Cochran, "Iraq Nuclear Facility Dismantlement and Disposal Project," Sandia National Laboratories, www-ns.iaea.org/ downloads/ rw/ projects/ iraq/ documentation/ wm07paper.pdf; John Davis, "Texas Tech Professors Assist with Nuclear Dismantlement in Iraq," Texas Tech University News, 8 July 2008; "Sandia aids cleanup of Iraqi nuclear facilities, rad waste," Sandia National Laboratories Press Release, 13 October 2008.

5 July 2008
The last major stockpile of material from Iraq's nuclear program, consisting of approximately 600 tons of yellowcake (milled uranium oxide), is delivered to Montreal after being removed from the Tuwaitha site. U.S. military personnel helped to remove the yellowcake from Tuwaitha, and the Iraqi government sold it to the Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corporation. It will be processed and used to fuel power reactors. Although uranium in yellowcake form is not weapons useable, safety and security concerns prompted the Iraqi government to request its removal and sale.
-- Alissa J. Rubin and Campbell Robertson, "U.S. helps remove uranium from Iraq; Nuclear dismantling is nearly complete," The International Herald Tribune, 8 July 2008 in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; "Uranium shipment arrives in Montreal," The Gazette (Montreal), 6 July 2008, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.

19 August 2008
Iraq signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Iraq is the 179^th state to sign the treaty, and the 21^st signatory of the 26 states in the treaty-defined critical region of the Middle East and South Asia. Iraq will be able to participate in CTBTO decision-making bodies and access data from its International Monitoring System for use in civil and scientific applications. Iraqis are now also eligible to work at the CTBTO.
-- "Iraq Signs Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Defense Daily International, 22 August 2008, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe; CTBTO Preparatory Commission, "Iraq Signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty," 20 August 2008.

	Updated November 2008