No they didn't believe that Iraq had WMDs. Scott Ritter who led the search in Iraq before the invasion stated there were no WMD's as did Hans Blix of the U.N. In Australia, Andrew Wilkie who was working as an intelligence analyst for the O.N.A also stated the claims by the U.S, the U.K and Australia amounted to BS. Howard then painted Wilkie as some sort of loony.