Japan contradicts Kay's statement that Iraq had no WMDs

Japan Today (currently on home page) ^ | Thursday, January 29, 2004 at 14:24 JST | Kyodo News

[litany_of_lies]

Japan contradicts Kay's statement that Iraq had no WMDs (FULL TEXT)

Thursday, January 29, 2004 at 14:24 JST
TOKYO — Japan on Thursday contradicted a statement made in the U.S. Senate by David Kay, who resigned recently as the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

"Weapons of mass destruction existed" in Iraq, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said. The continued existence of such weapons in Iraq is still seen as "a strong possibility." Fukuda also questioned the credibility of Kay's remarks, saying his current posture and the grounds for the opinion should be checked, but failed to reveal his own grounds for contradicting Kay's statement. (Kyodo News

[DCPatriot]

Geesh! Get a grip.

You could fit enough anthrax to kill every living thing in Iraq inside a space no larger than a 2 car garage.

BTW, Iraq is about the same size as California.

[litany_of_lies]

Yes, I know, and am perplexed as to:
- how the mainstream press can say or imply "there definitely aren't any WMDs in Iraq NOW,"
- how David Kay can say "we probably won't find them, so they PROBABLY don't exist"
- how anyone with a brain can say "because we couldn't find them, they MUST NOT exist."

Here's hoping for there being a Bush rope-a-dope strategy, as noted by another poster.

[Dilbert56]

"Rope a Dope" should be especially potent against the media and more-liberal Democrats.

[DCPatriot]

Thanks for being out there, litany.

Becareful trying to baptize some of your outspoken dumb relatives and acquaintances with the benefits of a 2nd Bush term.

[DCPatriot]

What I'd be concerned with would be the possibility of the US being set up to find a cache of BOOBY-TRAPPED WMD.

The backlash in terms of dead and injured could be hard for President Bush.

Hurry up, November!!!

[CyberAnt]

Wow! You were reading my mind ..?? LOL!!

[expatpat]

I believe that Kay said he didn't think there were WMDs "at the start of the war", perhaps leaving the door open for them to have been smuggled out while we were battling the cheese-eating.......in the UN.

[Hotdog]

"Maybe Kay has had the same visits that were made to Scott Ritter"

EXACTLY!

[Political Junkie Too]

I'd still like to find out whatever came of the MSNBC report by Bob Arnot, their chief medical correspondent, regarding the poisoning of the Euphrates River. This was reported once and then spiked.

Sky News also picked up the story.

All I remember hearing was that they found a bunch of empty drums by the side of the river.

-PJ

[mac_truck]

People are just cherry-picking his lengthy remarks.

I question why he's saying anything to anyone, especially the news media. Didn't they make him sign a secrecy agrement before they let him head up the WMD search?

[VOA]

What I don't understand is why Dubya and Co. haven't highlighted the work of
Kenneth A. Pollack more.
As a weapons policy analyst in the Clinton Administration, Pollack developed the scenario that Saddam was developing "just in time" systems for making chem/bio WMDs. This was
to be done by a rapid reconfiguration of pharmaceutical plants that Saddam got
permission to build after Gulf War I.

Thus Saddam wouldn't be caught red-handed by inspectors with stockpiles of
WMDs...and as soon as the world looked away and/or Saddam/Uday/Quasay decided to lash out...
the plants could turn out the dangerous/unstable Chem/Bio WMDs on a "just in time"
manner.
Pollack made a number of TV appearances before Op. Iraqi Freedom, but has basically
disappeared from view since then.
His book on the case for going ahead with overthrowing Saddam is here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375509283/qid=1075428434/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6828299-7416066?v=glance&s=books

[VOA]

Whoa!
I actually read a couple of the reviews of Kenneth Pollack's book (linked
in my post #31)...and supply below a link to Pollack'a apparent reversal of course
in the January 2004 Atlantic Monthly.
I can't pass judgement as I've not yet read this article...but wonder if we're
gonna' see that Pollack really was at home in the Clinton Administration (and may hope to be in
the next Clinton Administration)

Link to the Atlantic Monthly article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/pollack.htm

[LeGrande]

I don't think Bush is playing the "Rope-a-Dope" for a couple of reasons.

1. If it was discovered that Bush was hiding the weapons for an October surprise, the backlash would be horrific. He would lose the election.

2. The Iraqis are too stupid to build effective WMD's without help and after the first gulf war, help was in short supply. Almost everything that I have seen from the hard core muslims indicates that they are incapable of solving even elementary technical problems.

3. Why would Iraq build WMD's? They aren't really effective in war. Maybe Saddam thought the threat was all he needed. Bluff and bravado seemed to be his strongest points.

[litany_of_lies]

Looks like Pollack did a Scott Ritter too--he writes a 528-page book and repudicates it here (apparenlty referring to a mea culpa article he wrote in Atlantic Monthly within the past month or so):

The Real State of the Union

Although it's a Clark campaign site, it appears that what it says about Pollack is accurate. How about this gem:

In closing he (Pollack) urged that "we should recognize that the Administration's rush to war was reckless even on the basis of what we thought we knew in March of 2003. It appears even more reckless in light of what we know today.

If I were so wrong to the tune of 528 pages, I would at least have the self-preservation instinct not to tell the world I was COMPLETELY stupid. There NOTHING in those 528 pages that supports going to war? What a maroon.

[litany_of_lies]

Yeah, inquiring minds certainly want to know about that Euphrates story. Didn't find anything when I typed in "Euphrates" at MSNBC, unless the item in question was part of a longer story. Maybe it was only mentioned on the air.

[flowergirl]

Yes, you are right. Bush has shown himself to be an excellent "poker"player and he is bidding his time as the democRats beat the no WMD drumbeat and become seen as 1 issue folks,then ....Voila!
we find the WMD's
my 2 cents, for what it's worth

[litany_of_lies]

I think the "rope a dope" isn't based on timing to the election. He just "knows" they're there, and whether it's October 2004 or February 2006, he doesn't care. My 2 cents.

We're still left with why the Japanese appear to be so sure. My theory is they know something about shipments from North Korea and/or China than we do. Why that would be the case I don't know, and it would point to another oversight by the CIA.

Remember that ship that was bound for Yemen from NK that had "stuff" on it (it was weapons-related, but don't remember what it was) ultimately meant for Iraq? Maybe there were other shipments we don't know about but the Japanese do. It just seems very odd for Japan, of all countries, to be so outspoken on this. It's not consistent with THEIR culture to go out on a limb.

[TheEaglehasLanded]

THis whole thing doesn't make sense, is the UN blackmailing Bush?

[litany_of_lies]

Blackmailing? If so, over what? Given what the Iraqi press has learned of oil-related bribes to the French, Germans, and Russians, the better question might be what are we or can we blackmail those three countries about? If fact, such matters may go a long way in explaining why the old Iraq debt reduction efforts have gone so "inexplicably" well.

[litany_of_lies]

Wash-times has picked up the story:

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040129-013247-8112r.htm