During an interview on the Infinity Radio network, Rumsfeld expressed fresh confidence that such weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq, and offered several explanations for why they have not been located.
Rumsfeld said the United States before the war had "good intelligence" about Iraqi weapons and said Iraq had a track record of using chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds and against Iran in the 1980s.
In a speech on Tuesday, Rumsfeld raised the possibility that Iraq had decided to destroy its chemical and biological arms before the war.
Rumsfeld also renewed his criticism of Iran, saying Tehran was "beaming in radio programs trying to stir up people in Iraq to oppose the (US-led) coalition" there.
He added that "reasonable people assume" Iran will have nuclear weapons "sometime in this decade" and he renewed allegations that Iran was harboring senior members of the al Qaeda network.
