Ex-CENTCOM No. 2: Intel Showed Iraq Smuggled Out WMDs

Newsmax ^

[jbwbubba]

Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004 4:03 p.m. EDT Ex-CENTCOM No. 2: Intel Showed Iraq Smuggled Out WMDs

Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong, who until last September was the number two in command of the Iraq war under Gen. Tommy Franks, revealed Sunday that U.S. military intelligence had determined that weapons of mass destruction were being smuggled out of the country as the U.S. prepared to invade.

"I do know for a fact that some of those weapons went into Syria, Lebanon and Iran," Gen. DeLong told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, while discussing his new book, "Inside CENTCOM: The Unvarnished Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."

"Two days before the war, on March 17 [2003], we saw through multiple intelligence channels - both human intelligence and technical intelligence - large caravans of people and things, including some of the top 55 [most wanted] Iraqis going to Syria," Gen. DeLong explained. "We also know that before then, they buried some of the weapons of mass destruction," he added. "There are also some in Lebanon and probably a small amount in Iran."

The WMD smuggling operation didn't require large vehicles, the ex-general explained.

"In order to transport their biological weapons, they could take their entire experimental weapons system in one or two suitcases - pretty easy to hide," he told

[NewJerseyJoe]

> What about the traces of chemicals found in the Euphrates river at the beginning of the war?

Karl Rove placed them there. I thought everybody knew that.

[sharktrager]

Unfortunately, the way the argument was made, the government can not truly release what they know about WMD's. To do so we would be forced to invade at very least Syria simply to maintain a consistent policy.

[budman_2001]

UN Says: WMDs Smuggled From Iraq; Canadian PM Says in Terrorist Hands (June/04)

No doubt about it, even back then, the evidence was very strong. Yet, so many refuse to connect the dots.

[TeleStraightShooter]

concur

[Dilbert56]

This needs to come out, about two weeks before the election. It will, however, require some proof and I guess we don't yet have it. Perhaps Syria could be persuaded to fess up in return for being left alive.

General Franks, in his book, said the king of one Middle Eastern country told him, just before the war, that Saddam was hiding his WMD.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Nearly 25% 0f Troops in Iraq are Non US Troops - Kerry wrong again!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/iraq/foreigntroops.html

In addition to the United States, which has more than 130,000 troops in Iraq, many other countries have sent military personnel. The number of non-American coalition troops is more than 40,000, though numbers fluctuate.

United Kingdom: 9,000 soldiers
Italy: 3,000 soldiers, some serving as police and engineers
Poland: 2,400 soldiers
Ukraine: 1,600 soldiers
Netherlands: 1,100 soldiers plus a logistics team, a field hospital, military police and 200 engineers
Japan: 1,100 soldiers assigned to reconstruction
Australia: 800 soldiers
Romania: 700 soldiers plus 149 de-mining specialists, military police and "special intelligence" members
South Korea: 600 military engineers and medics
Bulgaria: 480 soldiers plus chemical warfare experts
Thailand: 440 soldiers assigned to humanitarian missions
Denmark: 420 soldiers including medics and military police
El Salvador: 360 soldiers
Hungary: 300 soldiers
Norway: 179 soldiers, mostly engineers and mine clearers
Mongolia: 160 soldiers involved in peacekeeping
Azerbaijan: 150 soldiers taking part in law enforcement and protection of historic monuments
Portugal: 125 soldiers functioning as police officers
Latvia: 120 soldiers
Lithuania: 115 soldiers
Slovakia: 102 soldiers
Czech Republic: 80 soldiers, serving as police
Philippines: 80 soldiers plus police and medics
Albania: 70 non-combat troops
Georgia: 70 soldiers
New Zealand: 60 army engineers assigned to reconstruction (expected to leave in Sept. 2004)
Moldova: 50 soldiers including de-mining specialists and medics
Macedonia: 35 soldiers
Estonia: 30 soldiers
Kazakhstan: 30 soldiers (expected to leave end of May 2004)
Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq following the election of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on March 14. Honduras and the Dominican Republic quickly followed suit. The three countries combined had nearly 2,000 troops in Iraq. Nicaragua withdrew its 115 troops at the end of March 2004 for economic reasons.

Countries that provide non-military support include: Kuwait and Qatar, which have hosted the U.S. Central Command and the invasion force; Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have given use of bases or ports; and Turkey, which has given permission for airspace use. Others countries have opted to give political support: Angola, Costa Rica, Colombia, Iceland, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Palau, Panama, Rwanda, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Uganda and Uzbekistan.

In early April 2004, the Bush administration indicated it was negotiating with another 50 countries that had expressed interest in providing peacekeeping troops.

FOREIGN WORKERS

The exact number of foreign workers in Iraq is hard to gauge, but it's at least 30,000. Many work for companies that have contracts with the American military to provide support or to rebuild the country. Others work for aid agencies.

Companies with U.S. Department of Defence contracts:
Kellogg, Brown and Root
Washington Group International
Fluor Intercontinental
Perini Corporation
Vinnell Corporation
CSC DynCorp International

Companies with U.S. Agency for International Development contracts:
International Resources Group
Air Force Augmentation Program
Stevedoring Services of America
Creative Associates International
Research Triangle Institute
Abt Associates
Skylink Air and Logistics Support
Bearing Point Inc.
Bechtel (including subcontractors from the UK, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Kuwait, Switzerland)

Non-governmental organizations with USAID grants:
United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Mercy Corps
International Relief and Development Incorporated
Agriculture Co-operative Development International
Volunteers in Overseas Co-operative Assistance
Co-operative Housing Foundation
Save the Children Federation
Iraqi Nursing Association

[demlosers]

well duh!

[We Happy Few]

Why have we not struck Syria by now?

[Former Proud Canadian]

Uh, this is really old news. I remember the convoys being reported when it happened. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain where the WMDs are.

It just BURNS me when the libs/dems/MSM say "there were no WMD's". They are all Rathers.

[JesseJane]

Great info!!

Thanks for posting.. It's heading to all in my address book... :)

[plain talk]

"In order to transport their biological weapons, they could take their entire experimental weapons system in one or two suitcases - pretty easy to hide," he told.

And as I recall there were several FReepers stupid enough to insist that there were NO WMDs and as evidence said we would have found them. The bottom line is we may never know what was there.

[b4its2late]

Sounds like we all new this here on FR many, many, months ago...... but that's just my opinion....

[Rome2000]

The Republicans have already bought into the "There were no weapons" propaganda that the enemy and his American sympathizers have propagated.

Until Administration officials change their tune this "revelation" ,that has been hinted at from day one, means nothing.

[Virginia]

I guess this is what was going on in Iraq while we were engaging in all of that "diplomacy" that was necessary to appease the left.

[Kaslin]

I have said a long time ago, that when you have something illegal that you don't want to give up, then you hide it so it can not be found. What better way is there then to move the stuff from place to place and to a comlete different location

[SunkenCiv]

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Saddam's Bombmaker by Khidhir Hamza with Jeff Stein

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[j.havenfarm]

I think the administration has done a wretched job of PR on this war. Your mention of the chemicals in the Euphrates is the first I've heard of it since the day it happened. Why does highly pertinent info like this keep disappearing down the rabbit hole? If the General's info on WMDs is correct, and I think it probably is, why hasn't the Administration done anything about it, even in just exposing it? In the unlikely event that the President loses this election, failing to address the "no WMD" canard will be proably the most important reasons why.

[EyesAndEars4U]

"It's time to release all the facts pertaining to Saddam's WMD!" And compromise human intelligence?

[Khaosai]

Why does highly pertinent info like this keep disappearing down the rabbit hole? If the General's info on WMDs is correct, and I think it probably is, why hasn't the Administration done anything about it, even in just exposing it?

Nothing is more complex than avoiding the obvious -

And understanding that is the answer to the question you raise about why the WH isn't talking.

The WH has not come out and said WMD was in Iraq but left to other Countries..... Because they are not certain that WMD actually left Iraq -

Intelligence "suspects" this could have happened - But "knowing" and "suspecting" are two completely different ball games -

The fact is, if we KNEW WMD left Iraq and we KNEW it was in X location in Syria.....we would have secured that site with US forces by now -

Lastly, Saddam had all the capabilities to produce WMD - This is a fact (and one in which the WH should talk about more!!) - After 9-11 we could no longer sit back and wait while Saddam would not declare his hand on WMD....nor would he dismantle his WMD producing capabilities -

The World is safer because of our actions -

[GodfearingTexan]

I've suspected this, and have been telling my friends this, all along. Why on earth are we not making this more public? Because we don't want to upset Syria? What's the reason? All this beating we've been taking! We ALL KNOW they had WMDs! I've said it before, I ain't the smartest person in the world, so if there is a good reason for not publicizing this more, tell me please!