Iraqi WMD's
"He betrayed this country, he played on our fears..." Such was Al Gores rant. Others followed and the "Bush lied, there were no WMD's" meme was pushed by the media, university profs, the Democratic party. It became common knowledge that Bush and company lied about the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction - they did not exist. The only problem with all of this is that they did, and still do exist, some probably still hidden in Iraq, but many more in Syria and Lebanon. This popped up in the Counterterrorism blog two days ago:
Syrian nuclear program quite advanced
By Olivier Guitta
Recently, Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Seyassah quoted European intelligence sources as saying that "Syria has an advanced nuclear program" in a secret site located in the province of Al Hassaka, close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders. British sources quoted by "Al Seyassah" believe that "it is President Assad's brother, colonel Maher Assad, and his cousin Rami Makhlouf, who supervise the program". This program is based on the Iraqi material that Saddam Hussein's two sons shipped to Syria before and during the war against Iraq. This explains, according to the daily newspaper, why international investigative teams found no proof of the program.
Furthermore, the British sources in Brussels affirm that "Iranian nuclear experts contribute to the Syrian program along with sixty Iraqi experts who had taken refuge in Syria since 2003 and experts from the ex-Soviet republics". British intelligence also confirm that this information is validated by their German counterparts, who was well established historically in the countries close to the ex- communist block, including Syria. Europeans fear that by focusing solely on the Iranian nuclear program, one might facilitate a much more quieter joint Iranian-Syrian program of uranium enrichment in Hassaka. Also, the geographical choice of the nuclear site is very meaningful. Indeed, because it is located in an area with a Kurdish majority, the program evades suspicions, and also striking against these installations will initially touch the Kurdish community who has historically sided with the West against the Baathists regime of Bagdad and Damascus.
What is really pathetic, and certainly of consequence, is that, until Bush decided to go to war, many leading Democrats in the US, not to mention intelligence services across the globe, understood the threat that Saddam's WMD's posed to the West, especially when Clinton was in the White House. Once the war began, and started to sour, the "no WMD's" mantra was put forth to distance Democrats from an increasingly hostile constituancy who opposed the war, one they desperately needed for reelection. Unfortunately it worked. However, the threat of WMD's from Iraq remains. Just because no "stockpiles" were found does not mean they were not there.
Going back to the CIA's October 2002 report, "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Program," a number of things certainly pop out. I will say, even after many have stated that the report has been discredited, particularly with regard to the aluminum tubes, that there are still some very interesting things in the report. The issue that stands out, and which is common in many of the reports written regarding Iraqi WMD's, is found in the second paragraph, "Revelations after the Gulf war starkly demonstrate the extensive efforts undertaken by Iraq to deny information." Saddam even overestimated the number of chemical munitions used against Iran by some 6000 weapons - all of which remain unaccounted for. United Nations resolutions 687, 707, 715, 1051, 1060, 1154, 1194, 1205, and 1284 all deal with the issue of Iraqi WMD's, and all were either ignored, or not fully accomodated by the Hussein regime. Indeed, the report states that "since 1998, Baghdad has refused to allow UN inspectors into Iraq as required by the Security Council resolutions." The report also documents 10 instances from 1983 to 1988 of Iraqi use of chemical weapons, mainly against Iranians and Kurds, as well as 14 instances of open-air testing of biological weapons. Saddam became quite adept at hiding what he was doing.
A few other things from the report:
UNSCOM supervised the destruction of more than 40,000 chemical munitions, nearly 500,000 liters of chemical agents (such as VX, sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard) 1.8 million liters if chemical precursors, and seven different types of delivery systems, including ballistic missile warheads.
Iraq has the capability to convert quickly legitimate vaccine and biopesticide plants to biological warfare production and already may have done so.
After four years of claiming that they had conducted only "small-scale, defensive" research, Iraqi officials finally admitted to inspectors in 1995 to production and weaponization of biological agents.
Also, the report mentions several times that Iraq had a habit of either over-reporting the number of weapons it had used in the Iran war, thus hiding the weapons it supposedly had used, or flat out denial of weapons and programs which were later discovered. Why, then, do we now choose to believe those that fall for this disinformation in the name of politics? Western European intelligence services have repeatedly backed up the claims made by Bush and Blair regarding the threat of Iraq's WMD programs and, as I have written previously, many leading Democrats believed the same, that Saddam and his weapons posed a direct threat to the US and the West. Political posturing, however, has caused mass amnesia in the Democratic party and among many "intellectuals" who, throughout the 1990's, understood the threat and were quite vocal in their opinions. Oh, but wait, there is more!
Okay, let me say this; I know that there are Democrats who still, to this day, stand by their support of taking the fight to Saddam, as well as Republicans who are still not sure of whether it was the right decision. Regardless, it comes down to one thing. There were Al Qaeda connections to Iraq prior to the US being in Iraq and Al Qaeda could have, theoretically, been given access to these weapons. Don't believe me? Do a bit of research. A popular idea which has been floating out there for a few years is that Saddam and Bin Laden hated each other, had vast ideological differences, and would never have cooperated. I don't want to go too deeply into the connections, but read Miniter's Disinformation and the cooperation becomes obvious, in what Miniter calls his "four kinds of undisputed connections," meetings, money, training, and personnel. Needless to say, yes, Iraq was involved with Al Qaeda. Now did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11? Not directly, no, and I challenge anybody to show that the Bush administration has stated that Iraq was involved. Bush never said it. Anyway, that's another blog, so back to the task at hand.
On June 23, 2004, over a metric ton of enriched uranium was discovered by US forces in Iraq.
Polish officials bought seventeen chemical weapon warheads to keep them out the hands of "insurgents" (terrorists)
1500 gallons of chemical agents were discovered in Mosul by US troops
On May 17, 2004 a roadside bomb containing Sarin exploded but, being a binary explosive, the agents which were supposed to mix and create the deadly chemical failed to combine.
These are just a few. Earlier this year, over 500 chemical weapons were found in Iraq. They may not have been made recently, but are conclusive proof that Saddam lied when he stated that all such weapons had been destroyed. Now, what else has he lied about? We aren't sure, but the fact that Syria has a nuclear weapons program based on Iraqi uranium means that he lied about his nuclear program. What else is in Syria? What has been transferred to the Bekaa valley of Lebanon? What is still hidden, buried in Iraq?
The left and the anti-war faction says that there were no weapons, yet Saddam' scientists have admitted to them and, indeed, they have been used in the past. UN inspectors have stated repeatedly that Iraq was not honest and forthcoming in what they had, have, and were developing, yet the "Bush lied" meme helped put the Democrats into office. Anyway, there is much more to come on WMD's, UNSCOM, the UN, David Kay, Richard Butler, the media, and liberal manipulation of the news! There is a hell of a lot more to this than has been popularly reported, and I'm goint to putting up here a bit at a time, so feel free to repsond and say thanks, tell me I'm full of whatever excretory material you wish, whatever - the proof is there.
Cheers!
Syrian nuclear program quite advanced
By Olivier Guitta
Recently, Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Seyassah quoted European intelligence sources as saying that "Syria has an advanced nuclear program" in a secret site located in the province of Al Hassaka, close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders. British sources quoted by "Al Seyassah" believe that "it is President Assad's brother, colonel Maher Assad, and his cousin Rami Makhlouf, who supervise the program". This program is based on the Iraqi material that Saddam Hussein's two sons shipped to Syria before and during the war against Iraq. This explains, according to the daily newspaper, why international investigative teams found no proof of the program.
Furthermore, the British sources in Brussels affirm that "Iranian nuclear experts contribute to the Syrian program along with sixty Iraqi experts who had taken refuge in Syria since 2003 and experts from the ex-Soviet republics". British intelligence also confirm that this information is validated by their German counterparts, who was well established historically in the countries close to the ex- communist block, including Syria. Europeans fear that by focusing solely on the Iranian nuclear program, one might facilitate a much more quieter joint Iranian-Syrian program of uranium enrichment in Hassaka. Also, the geographical choice of the nuclear site is very meaningful. Indeed, because it is located in an area with a Kurdish majority, the program evades suspicions, and also striking against these installations will initially touch the Kurdish community who has historically sided with the West against the Baathists regime of Bagdad and Damascus.
What is really pathetic, and certainly of consequence, is that, until Bush decided to go to war, many leading Democrats in the US, not to mention intelligence services across the globe, understood the threat that Saddam's WMD's posed to the West, especially when Clinton was in the White House. Once the war began, and started to sour, the "no WMD's" mantra was put forth to distance Democrats from an increasingly hostile constituancy who opposed the war, one they desperately needed for reelection. Unfortunately it worked. However, the threat of WMD's from Iraq remains. Just because no "stockpiles" were found does not mean they were not there.
Going back to the CIA's October 2002 report, "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Program," a number of things certainly pop out. I will say, even after many have stated that the report has been discredited, particularly with regard to the aluminum tubes, that there are still some very interesting things in the report. The issue that stands out, and which is common in many of the reports written regarding Iraqi WMD's, is found in the second paragraph, "Revelations after the Gulf war starkly demonstrate the extensive efforts undertaken by Iraq to deny information." Saddam even overestimated the number of chemical munitions used against Iran by some 6000 weapons - all of which remain unaccounted for. United Nations resolutions 687, 707, 715, 1051, 1060, 1154, 1194, 1205, and 1284 all deal with the issue of Iraqi WMD's, and all were either ignored, or not fully accomodated by the Hussein regime. Indeed, the report states that "since 1998, Baghdad has refused to allow UN inspectors into Iraq as required by the Security Council resolutions." The report also documents 10 instances from 1983 to 1988 of Iraqi use of chemical weapons, mainly against Iranians and Kurds, as well as 14 instances of open-air testing of biological weapons. Saddam became quite adept at hiding what he was doing.
A few other things from the report:
UNSCOM supervised the destruction of more than 40,000 chemical munitions, nearly 500,000 liters of chemical agents (such as VX, sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard) 1.8 million liters if chemical precursors, and seven different types of delivery systems, including ballistic missile warheads.
Iraq has the capability to convert quickly legitimate vaccine and biopesticide plants to biological warfare production and already may have done so.
After four years of claiming that they had conducted only "small-scale, defensive" research, Iraqi officials finally admitted to inspectors in 1995 to production and weaponization of biological agents.
Also, the report mentions several times that Iraq had a habit of either over-reporting the number of weapons it had used in the Iran war, thus hiding the weapons it supposedly had used, or flat out denial of weapons and programs which were later discovered. Why, then, do we now choose to believe those that fall for this disinformation in the name of politics? Western European intelligence services have repeatedly backed up the claims made by Bush and Blair regarding the threat of Iraq's WMD programs and, as I have written previously, many leading Democrats believed the same, that Saddam and his weapons posed a direct threat to the US and the West. Political posturing, however, has caused mass amnesia in the Democratic party and among many "intellectuals" who, throughout the 1990's, understood the threat and were quite vocal in their opinions. Oh, but wait, there is more!
Okay, let me say this; I know that there are Democrats who still, to this day, stand by their support of taking the fight to Saddam, as well as Republicans who are still not sure of whether it was the right decision. Regardless, it comes down to one thing. There were Al Qaeda connections to Iraq prior to the US being in Iraq and Al Qaeda could have, theoretically, been given access to these weapons. Don't believe me? Do a bit of research. A popular idea which has been floating out there for a few years is that Saddam and Bin Laden hated each other, had vast ideological differences, and would never have cooperated. I don't want to go too deeply into the connections, but read Miniter's Disinformation and the cooperation becomes obvious, in what Miniter calls his "four kinds of undisputed connections," meetings, money, training, and personnel. Needless to say, yes, Iraq was involved with Al Qaeda. Now did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11? Not directly, no, and I challenge anybody to show that the Bush administration has stated that Iraq was involved. Bush never said it. Anyway, that's another blog, so back to the task at hand.
On June 23, 2004, over a metric ton of enriched uranium was discovered by US forces in Iraq.
Polish officials bought seventeen chemical weapon warheads to keep them out the hands of "insurgents" (terrorists)
1500 gallons of chemical agents were discovered in Mosul by US troops
On May 17, 2004 a roadside bomb containing Sarin exploded but, being a binary explosive, the agents which were supposed to mix and create the deadly chemical failed to combine.
These are just a few. Earlier this year, over 500 chemical weapons were found in Iraq. They may not have been made recently, but are conclusive proof that Saddam lied when he stated that all such weapons had been destroyed. Now, what else has he lied about? We aren't sure, but the fact that Syria has a nuclear weapons program based on Iraqi uranium means that he lied about his nuclear program. What else is in Syria? What has been transferred to the Bekaa valley of Lebanon? What is still hidden, buried in Iraq?
The left and the anti-war faction says that there were no weapons, yet Saddam' scientists have admitted to them and, indeed, they have been used in the past. UN inspectors have stated repeatedly that Iraq was not honest and forthcoming in what they had, have, and were developing, yet the "Bush lied" meme helped put the Democrats into office. Anyway, there is much more to come on WMD's, UNSCOM, the UN, David Kay, Richard Butler, the media, and liberal manipulation of the news! There is a hell of a lot more to this than has been popularly reported, and I'm goint to putting up here a bit at a time, so feel free to repsond and say thanks, tell me I'm full of whatever excretory material you wish, whatever - the proof is there.
Cheers!
posted by Unknown at 1:33 PM
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