US expert promises WMD 'surprises'

BBC Online ^ | 8/01/03 | BBC (unattributed)

[TastyManatees]

David Kay, a special adviser to the CIA, said solid progress was being made, but would not be drawn on whether any actual weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been found.

Mr Kay said that Iraqi scientists were revealing new secrets about work on WMD and progress was also being made to unravel the regime's concealment tactics.

Mr Kay's comments come as pressure mounts on President George W Bush and the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to provide evidence of an Iraqi weapons programme to back up their decision to go to war.

The BBC's Rob Watson in Washington says there is currently no more sensitive topic in Washington than the search for Iraqi WMD.

'Surprises'

Mr Kay told senators that most of the search work was being done at areas identified by Iraqis since the war which had not been on any US target list.

Programmes don't do it... it was weapons that we were told about

John Rockefeller Democrat People "should not be surprised by surprises", he said.

A senior Democratic Senator warned that providing concrete proof of real WMD, not plans to develop them, was essential to justify the US-led war.

Senator Pat Roberts, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said afterwards:

"I think in view of a lot of criticism, I would not be surprised if there is a surprise that would end up changing a lot of people's minds."

Reasons for war

However, Senator Roberts also admitted never having expected to find a "smoking missile or the smoking gun".

"I think [that] would be an incredible piece of luck," he said.

The senior Democrat on the committee, Senator John Rockefeller, said a distinction had to be made between weapons and weapons programmes.

"Programmes don't do it... it was weapons that we were told about," he said.

"I want to see this validated, in the sense that we went to war for the right reasons, and that would be weapons of mass destruction."

Our correspondent says that, given the continuing controversy over whether the threat posed by Iraq before the war was exaggerated, the Bush administration now knows any evidence will have to be convincing.

Web of deceit

Mr Kay said his team was building a "solid case that [would] stand" and that he would welcome international scrutiny once the evidence was assembled.

The active deception programme is truly amazing once you get inside it

David Kay A former chief weapons inspector at the UN, Mr Kay was sent to Iraq by the CIA to lead the search for weapons of mass destruction.

He stressed that the search had switched from sites identified by the coalition before the war as potential arms plants to areas picked out by Iraqis themselves.

"Almost every one of them is one that we did not know about until we were led to it by Iraqis or the documentation we have seized," he said.

Both the US and Britain accused Saddam Hussein of misleading UN inspectors before the war and Mr Kay said he was gathering evidence of deception.

"The active deception programme is truly amazing once you get inside it," he said.

"We have people who participated in deceiving UN inspectors now telling us how they did it," the US inspector added

[TastyManatees]

Yesterday, the head of the American team in Iraq charged with assessing Saddam's chemical/biological/nuclear programs spoke to the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. This should be front page headlines, but almost hasn't even been mentioned yet by anyone here in Washington. However, in the Washington Times, Bill Gertz referred to it in his "Inside the Ring" today, stating that some in the Pentagon would like to hit the "Bush Lied, People Died" crowd with one huge release of all the information we have collected in Iraq once the case is overwhelming.

I've said it before, but there will be a lot of egg going around in this town in a few months.

Tasty Manatees

[1Old Pro]

The senior Democrat on the committee, Senator John Rockefeller, said a distinction had to be made between weapons and weapons programmes. "Programmes don't do it... it was weapons that we were told about," he said.

Rocky has brain damage. It was the PROGRAMS we were concerned about.

[Sacajaweau]

That six month release of info agrees with what I wrote yesterday. Bush will announce the release at his State of the Union Speech and it will come just before the Dem pick is decided.

The Dems will scream "politicizing" and the Repubs will NOT say "We told you so". Sometimes, silence is the cruelest form of punishment.

[steveegg]

John-Boy definitely does have brain damage. Without programs (or as the British say, programmes), there wouldn't be any weapons.

BTW, I remember hearing plenty about both.

[Ex-Dem]

I remember Kay saying in an interview (with his former employer NBC no less) that he's already seen enough in the documents to convince him. Right now, they're probably completing translations and collating the evidence. When this is released it's going to be a deathblow to the war nay-sayers. I'd like to see it come out about the time the Iraqis have their first free election.

[Dilbert56]

I thought he was Jay Rockefeller

[theDentist]

Special Kay had better not be pulling legs... this media is starving for someone to feed upon.

[epluribus_2]

One can be jailed, maybe even executed, for having been proven to have the CRIMINAL INTENT and the MEANS to carry out a homicide. The "programs" were meant for us you dumbass democrats. You are digging a deeeep icky hole you will have to live in for a long time to come. At least as long as the War on Terror lasts which isn't scheduled to end any time soon.

[Polybius]

A senior Democratic Senator warned that providing concrete proof of real WMD, not plans to develop them, was essential to justify the US-led war.

Isn't this how North Korea ended up with The Bomb?

[steveegg]

thought he was Jay Rockefeller

Blame the BBC; they called him John.

[1Old Pro]

BTW, I remember hearing plenty about both.

Yes, me too. Rocky is attempting the ususal Dem tactic of rewriting history to benefit the Rats politically.

[epluribus_2]

in hindsight, a lot of Dems probably feel quite comfortable in deep, icky holes.

[ConservativeDude]

"Programmes don't do it... it was weapons that we were told about,"

This is the cornerstone of the socialist Democrap foreign policy: AFTER you hurt us, we might get really mad...but not before!

[epluribus_2]

Isn't this how North Korea ended up with The Bomb?

WE HAVE A WINNER!

(to the perfect comback to the rats!)

[The G Man]

"Mr Kay said his team was building a "solid case that [would] stand" and that he would welcome international scrutiny once the evidence was assembled"

Oh, he'll get that and then some. I hope his spellchecker works too because any typos, or punctuation or grammatical errors in his report will just be further evidence of deceipt by the Bush Administration. (/sarcasm)

[steveegg]

Update; the legal name is John, though he usually goes by Jay.

[steveegg]

What else do you expect from the party of Clinton? I remember the programs and weapons mentioned in 1991, I remember both mentioned in 1994, I remember both mentioned in 1998, I remember both mentioned in 2003. I also remember S(l)ick Willie saying very recently that he didn't know if his "stop-the-impeachment-vote" bombing in December 1998 was any more successful in its official goal than in its real one (where it failed miserably) when he left office.

[TastyManatees]

You are correct. Tom Brokaw interviewed David Kay on MSNBC on July 15. In the interview, Kay responded to the "six months" question with a definitely affirmative answer.

[PhiKapMom]

Agree with you -- they are going to release everything at one in one large Report that we can use to bash over the heads of the DemocRATs and their media lapdogs along with a host of naysayers that have criticized this President and his Administration on not finding WMD's! Then the same perps will move on to another topic to bash the President! They only care what is good for their Party to regain power and could care less about this Country.

What bothers me that even without any WMDs, Saddam needed removed from power and should have been removed a long time ago. The DemocRATs, some Republicans, and Liberal Media obviously have not even read the White House's In Focus Report on Iraq compiled from various media resources around the world or their attacks would stop immediately. Went through that Report yesterday to post excerpts on the Countdown Thread and was appalled that the naysayers could be on the attack concerning the the removal of Saddam and the killing of his two sons after reading what was in that report. The report is Unclassified so I can only imagine how bad the Classified Intelligence Report is -- the Unclassified made me sick to read the atrocities of Saddam and his ruthless regime. I only excerpted portions to post on our thread, but the thread has links to the full report. The Full Report should be mandatory reading for everyone that has any doubts on why Saddam and his brutal regime were removed!

COUNTDOWN (458 DAYS) TO VICTORY '04 -- Operation Iraqi Freedom -- A White House Special Report

[kevkrom]

"Programmes don't do it... it was weapons that we were told about"

Translaton: "Oh, s#!$... they have definitive proof of the WMD programs... better move that bar a little higher again..."