The truth, at last. An Iraqi Colonel: "The West Should Thank God Iraq decided NOT to fight."

Telegraph ^

[IncPen]

Mohammed Atta and Osama Bin Laden delivered 80,000 pounds of flaming jet fuel into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Quibbling over, or minimizing, the ragheads' capability to use the weapons they possess is rather silly.

Within a day or two of 911 I heard on NPR (NPR!) that calculations were being run at the Penatgon with the intention of being able to claim the jets used in the attacks, with their fuel and velocity, as WMD in a world court, if it ever came to that.

As I recall, they did give a number on the program, expressed in tons of TNT.

[Happy2BMe]

"I would like to remind people that we have in this country a bio-weapons lab that made highly refined anthrax two years ago, and the FBI still has no idea where it is either. Just because its location is unknown does not mean it doesn’t exist."

True. It could be in an office building on the 39th floor of the empire state building or a cave in the grand canyon.

Good point, thanks.

[JustPiper]

Yet another confirmation!!!

[U S Army EOD]

Explosive power is calculated using TNT as a factor of one. This is a world standard when determining the strength of an explosive.

[Valin]

Bump for later.

[narses]

Write letters to the editor. Cite FACTS. It drives liberals NUTS.

[King Prout]

thanks. took the words right out of my mouth.

[syriacus]

It would be, if the good Colonel would be so kind as to show us where the giant stockpiles of WMD are.

He said the weapons were hidden by the Fedayeen. He did not know where they were. His men were to wear masks when deploying the weapons, but he did not know if that was because they had chemical or biological agents.

[syriacus]

No, all we have here is the word of an Iraqi officer who may well be simply trying to curry American favor to improve his situation. Let him lead us to some of these weapons, though, and it'll be a different story.

He said the Fedayeen had hidden them. He was told that his men were to use masks if/when they deployed the weapons, but he was not in charge of hiding the weapons.

[syriacus]

Except for the chemical suits found with some Iraqi frontline units.

This too...Discovery of Chemical Suits Reinforces Concerns,Wednesday, March 26, 2003

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar — A U.S. general said Wednesday the discovery of 3,000 chemical suits in a central Iraqi hospital that had been used as an Iraqi base raised concern that Saddam Hussein's regime was prepared to use chemical weapons.

"What we found at the hospital reinforces our concern," said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks. "We are well-prepared to deal with the potential use of chemical weapons."

In addition to the chemical suits, the Central Command reported earlier that Marines found and confiscated gas masks and nerve gas antidote injectors in the hospital near An Nasiriyah.

[Betty Jo]

Wasnt that all old stuff, in broken dust covered boxes that looked as though they had been there before Gulf I ?

[txhurl]

Wow - from March 23, thanks. This makes a lot of sense. If we confiscated a good chunk of their protection against WMD, early on, stands to reason they'd be a lot less willing to deploy it.

[mrustow]

Thanks fore the png, Shermy. I never doubted the existence of WMDs in Iraq, but fear that it will be years before the truth comes out.

[syriacus]

Wasnt that all old stuff, in broken dust covered boxes that looked as though they had been there before Gulf I ?

1. Manufacture date may have nothing to do with the usefulness of an item. Nations hold onto useful defense items. We had the same missles and rockets around for years. Did that necessarily make them any less useful? Should nations waste money by manufacturing identical new items, if the old ones are just fine?

2. If weapons and defenses are already in a useful place, they don't get moved. A hospital sounds like a fairly secure and easily reached location. And Saddam's enemies, if they were decent people like us, would probably try to avoid direct hits on hospitals. Were the items at the hospital for years, or moved there around the time the weapons inspectors were in Iraq, or moved there shortly after hostilities began?

3. The condition of the boxes may, or may not, be pertinent. It depends on how they got that way. Boxes don't break themselves.

I'm not curious enough to spend the time to find out if the boxes got broken and dusty shortly before they were found, or if they had been that way for years. Maybe you can help.

Were the boxes broken by fearful Iraqis who thought Saddam would use chemical or biological weapons this year or some time in the past? Were they broken because someone was moving things around? Was the damage and dust from recent hurried activity? Was the cleaning staff on strike?

Were the containers holding antidote broken, too?

[Betty Jo]

The pix I remember were from several locations. They were all in old broken boxes,covered in dust and such.

I kinda think this was stuff from the Iraq-Iran War,maybe.

We knew those two were gasing each other.

We supported Iraq then.

[syriacus]

Thanks for the explanation.

I guess only time will tell if Saddam (the invader of Kuwait and murderer of his own people) was holding on to "unconventional" weapons after he lost the first gulf War and was supposed to get rid of them.