The claim from Bush was that they were actively producing and stockpiling nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. They weren't. They never recovered their programs after GHWB routed them from Kuwait. Rice and Powell said so, pre 9-11.
When in fact the only chemical, biological weapons they had were old dilapidated ordinance left over from the 1980's war with Iran.
Btw, we didn't give them to Iraq. We sold it to them and allowed our allies in Europe to sell him high level technology that allowed him to produce and use those chemical agents against his enemies in the 1980's
Recall...
- Colin Powell (February 2001): Shortly after becoming Secretary of State, Powell stated during a trip to Cairo that Saddam Hussein "has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction," and that sanctions were working to keep him in check.
- Condoleezza Rice (July 2001): Before the 9/11 attacks, when questioned on the status of Iraq's military, Rice acknowledged that Saddam did not have the conventional capability to threaten his neighbors, stating, "He is a threat to his neighbors, but we are keeping him in check".