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This Was Not Looting - How did Saddam's best weapons plants get plundered? (Hitchens)
Slate ^ | 3/15/05 | Christopher Hitchens

Posted on 03/15/2005 8:02:35 AM PST by pissant

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To: pissant

I have never been intellectually capable of believing the theory that every governmental agency across the Globe (some in collusion with saddam's government) could have all reached the identical conclusion that they had stockpiles of WMD, and been completely wrong. If this had been 1869 I might believe that a possibility. In 2003, no. Perhaps we lacked the well connected intelligence services on the ground we would have preferred, but in this age I do not believe we could be that wrong. How do we explain the satellite photos? Faked? No.

WMD's did or still do exist. Speculation in Bekaa Valley. I am more inclined than I am disinclined to believe this. And thanks to the Liberals acting like two year olds with their mantra "Bush Lied, nananana", we should have been jointly investigating the mystery of what happened to them.


21 posted on 03/15/2005 8:30:34 AM PST by Soul Seeker
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To: pissant
"The invasion of Iraq had made the world a more dangerous place by randomly scattering all sorts of weaponry, including mass-destruction weaponry, to destinations unknown. " Can you imagine how stupid this item in the article is?????? If the invasion did NOT occur the machinery would have been used and its destructive weapons would have been given free to terrorist and probably sold to corrupt governments like Korea, Iran, etc. Damn, where are the brains.
22 posted on 03/15/2005 8:35:26 AM PST by Logical me (Oh, well!!!)
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To: pissant; Mo1; Howlin; Peach; BeforeISleep; kimmie7; 4integrity; BigSkyFreeper; RandallFlagg; ...
PING...
23 posted on 03/15/2005 8:36:43 AM PST by OXENinFLA
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To: llama hunter

You are right, and the New York Times is anyone's best source for oxymorons.


24 posted on 03/15/2005 8:40:15 AM PST by Malesherbes
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To: ken21

"the nyt is either stupid or evil."
Both!

Clearly, the NYT and the LAT are anti-American and anti-military.

The NYT has less credibility than a screen door on a submarine.
And along with the LAT and the Wash Post it's no wonder their circulations are sinking like the Titanic!

I guess the MSM would have felt better about the WMD if a few tens of thousands of Marines & Soldiers had been killed by their use.

Semper Fi,
Kelly


25 posted on 03/15/2005 8:43:41 AM PST by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: pissant

Good article.


26 posted on 03/15/2005 8:46:45 AM PST by WOSG (Liberating Iraq - http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com)
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To: pissant

Bump.


27 posted on 03/15/2005 8:48:10 AM PST by T. Buzzard Trueblood ("He's uptight and occasionally contrived." Mike Wallace on Dan Rather)
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To: Petronski
Charles Duelfer's 7th Quarterly Report to UNMOVIC shows satellite photos of whole weapons plants being dismantled in a matter of days. It is listed on the U.N> web site.
28 posted on 03/15/2005 8:54:40 AM PST by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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To: kellynla
Hitchens got most of the story correct with the exception of the TIME LINE. You can bet your ass that the removal (not looting) of these weapon factories was before the invasion and not after. The stuff is probably in Syria.

Does anybody truly think that with our forces in control of the country and numerous road blocks and check points you would be able to dismantle and ship these weapon factories some where else in the country or out of the country?

Repeat after me, "THE NEW YORK TIMES LIES."
29 posted on 03/15/2005 8:55:24 AM PST by cpdiii (Oil Field Trash, Roughneck, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, (OIL FIELD TRASH was fun))
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To: llama hunter
Who would have the capability to assist in an operation this big?

Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published October 28, 2004

Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.

30 posted on 03/15/2005 9:03:54 AM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: massgopguy
It is listed on the U.N> web site.

Do you happen to have the link? I'd like to research this myself. TIA.

31 posted on 03/15/2005 9:05:22 AM PST by Bernard Marx (Don't make the mistake of interpreting my Civility as Servility)
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To: pissant

I absolutely LOVE Hitchens...he's been a slow and thoughtful convert- the opening of his eyes to reality has been fascinating to watch.

As to the newspaper of record...it's a broken record.


32 posted on 03/15/2005 9:05:40 AM PST by SE Mom (God Bless our troops.)
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To: Petronski; pissant

<< it's not a whore, it's a slut.

Like most New Yorkers, all of France and what's left of once-great-britain it has an awfully long way to go -- and a snow-ball's chance in Hell of making it -- up the social scale to "Whore."


33 posted on 03/15/2005 9:10:02 AM PST by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
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To: pissant

ping for later read


34 posted on 03/15/2005 9:11:29 AM PST by r-q-tek86 (Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect)
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To: Bernard Marx

I left the hard copy at home in my stack of stuff. But I believe I Googled it when I found it in the first place. It's the same report that showed the Iraq SA-2's in the junk yard in Rotterdam.


35 posted on 03/15/2005 9:12:02 AM PST by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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To: Petronski
"All the News Thats Spit!"
36 posted on 03/15/2005 9:16:10 AM PST by Young Werther
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To: cpdiii

Exactly! It is in so many other people's interests (UN/Anti-American crowd) to say these weapons were removed after we took Baghdad...when in fact, the amount of time that Bush was demanded to negotiate provided adequate time to remove these weapons.

I'm sorry...but I just can't picture convoys with "tons" of material trekking through Iraq, unmolested, during the war. After all, we are talking about heavy equipment that would've easily been spotted by our survey groups. With a nearly 8-month gap between our warnings to Saddam and the start of this war...there are a lot of materials that could've left Iraq.

I believe that the NYTs may now believe that Saddam did have WMDs; and that they (along with others) are now going to do their best to blame Bush for what they'll call the proliferation of these weapons as they defelct attention from their gross incompetence...which included giving Saddam this additional time.

While I am sure that some material was still being looted during the war...it is beyond belief to think that Saddam wasn't removing material with the several-month warning we gave him. In fact, I'm sure this additional time granted Saddam was a prerequisite from those nations that did business with Saddam...as it gave them time to remove the very evidence that would've tied them to Saddam. Anyone remember the Russians and French who were still in Iraq as the war was just starting? I don't think they were there for Sun and sand.


37 posted on 03/15/2005 9:33:06 AM PST by cwb
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To: FreedomCalls
Another excellent investigative piece by Gertz:

2 Russian generals given awards in Iraq on war eve

The mission and the reason the generals received the awards were not disclosed in the April 2, 2003, report. However, Gen. Achalov told the newspaper that he "didn't fly to Baghdad to drink coffee."

The comment bolsters the claims of Pentagon officials who say Russian military advisers and special forces units were helping Iraq's military and intelligence services before the Iraq war.

The Pentagon has identified Russia as Iraq's top arms supplier, along with France and China. U.S. military officials have said Russian military suppliers sold Iraq special electronic jammers that were designed to thwart attacks by U.S. satellite-guided joint direct attack munitions, or JDAMs.

The jammers were bombed by the JDAMs, after the global positioning systems satellites signals used to guide them were boosted.

John A. Shaw, deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said this week that two European intelligence services have obtained documentary evidence indicating Russian spetsnaz, or special forces, troops were involved in a covert program to shred documents on Russian arms sales to Iraq, and to move weapons out of the country to Syria, Lebanon and possibly Iran.

The Russians were hired by the Iraqis to protect special Russian weapons and to organize the removal of arms through truck convoys. The Russian special forces troops were working for the GRU military intelligence service and wore civilian clothes, defense officials said.

38 posted on 03/15/2005 9:37:49 AM PST by Quilla
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To: pissant
The NYSlimes appears to be spinning an obfuscation skank, in order to knit an escape diversion for their nasty lies written during the political season, in their effort to get their anointed liberal puke-Kerry elected. Hitchens skewers them royally! It is interesting that Rush didn't pick up on this before Hitchens explains it so clearly.
39 posted on 03/15/2005 9:43:48 AM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: MHGinTN

Rush hit on this yesterday. Hitch was taking notes.


40 posted on 03/15/2005 9:45:11 AM PST by pissant (good steak!)
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