If It's Not There, How Can It Be Missing?

From the LA Times:

U.N.: Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
June 3 2005, 5:37 AM PDT
UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday.

The link is http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-un-weapons-inspectors,1,5084698.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

The story continues:

In the report to the U.N. Security Council, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said he's reached no conclusions about who removed the items or where they went. He said it could have been moved elsewhere in Iraq, sold as scrap, melted down or purchased.

He said the missing material can be used for legitimate purposes. "However, they can also be utilized for prohibited purposes if in a good state of repair."

He said imagery analysts have identified 109 sites that have been emptied of equipment to varying degrees, up from 90 reported in March. The report also provided much more detail about the percentage of items no longer at the places where U.N. inspectors monitored them.

From the imagery analysis, Perricos said analysts at the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission which he heads have concluded that biological sites were less damaged than chemical and missile sites.

The commission, known as UNMOVIC, previously reported the discovery of some equipment and material from the sites in scrapyards in Jordan and the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Perricos said analysts found, for example, that 53 of the 98 vessels that could be used for a wide range of chemical reactions had disappeared.

"Due to its characteristics, this equipment can be used for the production of both commercial chemicals and chemical warfare agents," he said.

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

I thought that "Bush lied about Iraq having WMDs"?????

But here is a report FROM THE UNITED NATIONS stating that Iraq had biological, chemical and missile sites and that materials at these sites are "no longer at the places where U.N. inspectors monitored them."

If Bush lied about Iraq having WMDs, then how can these sites and materials have ever been there?

And if they were never there, HOW CAN THEY NOW BE MISSING?