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WMD Breakthrough: Post-Iraq, the world's proliferators are on the run
Opinion Journal ^ | 02/06/04 | editors

Posted on 02/05/2004 9:03:48 PM PST by Pokey78

Edited on 04/23/2004 12:06:27 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Pardon us for interrupting the Beltway brawl over Iraq intelligence, but has anyone else noticed the recent landmark progress against nuclear proliferation? The latest breakthrough came this week in Pakistan, where a scientist confessed on television to his nuclear weapons deals during the 1990s.


(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abdulqadeerkhan; gadhafi; libya; nukes; pakistan; proliferation; wmd
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1 posted on 02/05/2004 9:03:49 PM PST by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
BRAVO!

one hell of an editorial!
2 posted on 02/05/2004 9:10:15 PM PST by Cosmo (Liberalism is for Girls!)
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To: Pokey78
And everything in this article is exactly what the Democrats want to obfuscate!
3 posted on 02/06/2004 12:15:51 AM PST by WaterDragon (GWB is The MAN!)
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To: Pokey78
Or to put it in terms even Washington may understand: The Bush strategy is working.

Don't hold your breath waiting for anyone in Washington to acknowledge it.

-PJ

4 posted on 02/06/2004 12:21:26 AM PST by Political Junkie Too (It's not safe yet to vote Democrat.)
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To: Pokey78
Looks like we had no provisions in planning for the possibilty of not finding WMD.

That's how sure they were. Iraq's actions with the UN now need to be explained.
5 posted on 02/06/2004 2:23:04 AM PST by The Raven
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To: Pokey78
Additional reading
6 posted on 02/06/2004 3:02:17 AM PST by The Raven
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To: Pokey78
Worth repeating

"All of this anti-WMD progress contrasts dramatically with what took place during the late 1990s, when the U.S. was supposedly just as worried about nuclear proliferation. We now know that those were the years when Mr. Khan spread his nuclear wares, when Gadhafi gathered his centrifuges, when Iraq kicked out U.N. inspectors and Iran deceived the world, and when North Korea was preparing to enrich uranium even while it negotiated new "disarmament" deals with the Clinton Administration. One obvious conclusion is that none of these proliferators believed the U.S. or U.N. were serious about confronting them. And at the time they were right.

All of that changed with the Bush policy of challenging terrorists and the states that support them after 9/11. With the fall of the Taliban and Saddam, the world's dictators have learned that protecting terrorists or pursuing WMD can interfere with lifetime tenure. So they are deciding to turn state's evidence, against themselves and others. Or to put it in terms even Washington may understand: The Bush strategy is working."

7 posted on 02/06/2004 3:39:24 AM PST by Alissa
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To: Pokey78
BTTT!!!!
8 posted on 02/06/2004 4:11:55 AM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: Pokey78
Outstanding editorial!

9 posted on 02/06/2004 4:44:07 AM PST by RottiBiz
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To: Pokey78; MJY1288; xzins; Calpernia; TEXOKIE; Alamo-Girl; windchime; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; ..

Pardon us for interrupting the Beltway brawl over Iraq intelligence, but has anyone else noticed the recent landmark progress against nuclear proliferation? The latest breakthrough came this week in Pakistan, where a scientist confessed on television to his nuclear weapons deals during the 1990s.

.....let's recall why everyone cared about Iraq's WMD in the first place. The nightmare scenario, all too plausible after September 11, is that a dictator who trucks with terrorists will give them a nuclear weapon to explode on American soil. In recent weeks, the U.S. has made dramatic progress in busting up the global proliferation network that would make this possible, and much of the progress flows from President Bush's decision to disarm Saddam Hussein....

Abdul Qadeer Khan's TV tell-all on Wednesday established links among Islamabad, Tripoli, Tehran and Pyongyang, and showed how the fall of Baghdad damaged this network.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bush Doctrine, flypaper, truth, success, progress, our enemies are
on the run  from our troops, our intelligence experts,
our allies, we are winning, ping!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want on or off the Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me, Calpernia or xzins.
Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).

10 posted on 02/06/2004 6:09:26 AM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl ("What we have begun, we will finish." ~ President Bush, 2/05/04)
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To: DoctorZIn; nuconvert
A knife in the back for Kerry.
11 posted on 02/06/2004 6:12:46 AM PST by Pan_Yans Wife (Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'--- Kahlil Gibran)
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To: Pokey78
And some guy had a post on FR telling us why we should not vote for Bush for a second term, mainly for domestic reasons... hell if we get snuffed out by terrorists, there is no domestic anything!
12 posted on 02/06/2004 6:40:38 AM PST by Godfollow
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To: Pokey78
BTTT! This is an excellent editorial that I just copied into my archives for future reference. Freepers, please be sure to write your local papers with fact-based letters explaining what is really happening compared to what the media/Dem'Rat cabal puts out.

The fact remains: The Bush administration did not base the reasoning for the war solely on the present-time existence of WMD; and, the idea that Iraq possessed WMD was a worldwide belief that did not originate in the Bush White House. Re-read his September 12, 2002 speech to the U.N. and he outlines his case in terms of the U.N. sanctions that have been violated, as well as Hussein's history.

Likewise, the only politician on record I can find saying that Iraq's threat was 'imminent' is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV); Bush and his administration have never said it. But when you listen to the media, its a 180-degree about-face.

13 posted on 02/06/2004 7:23:58 AM PST by HenryLeeII (John Kerry's votes have killed more people than my guns!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
14 posted on 02/06/2004 8:37:30 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Pokey78
If he now lets U.S. officials debrief the scientist and track down his network, the intelligence windfall will count for much more than any punishment for Mr. Khan.

Very much so.

Besides, we can always slip somebody a couple million to put a bullet in his head a few years down the road.

15 posted on 02/06/2004 8:43:40 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
You can put me on your ping list.
16 posted on 02/06/2004 10:18:42 AM PST by tillacum (President Bush and our Military will defeat the terrorists.)
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To: tillacum
Done. Welcome. Just click on my Freepname for today's earlier pings (+).
17 posted on 02/06/2004 10:26:54 AM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl ("What we have begun, we will finish." ~ President Bush, 2/05/04)
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To: Pokey78
bttt
18 posted on 02/06/2004 10:28:25 AM PST by mathluv (Protect my grandchildren's future. Vote for Bush/Cheny '04.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Bump!
19 posted on 02/06/2004 6:33:15 PM PST by windchime (Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
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To: Pokey78; Ragtime Cowgirl
Mass e-mailed!!
20 posted on 02/07/2004 2:22:59 AM PST by radu (May God watch over our troops and keep them safe)
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