Posted on 05/24/2005 7:20:30 PM PDT by jmc1969
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Saddam Hussein may have "created a certain ambiguity" about his weapons capabilities before the second Gulf War for two reasons: pride and the threat of Iran, the former top U.S. arms hunter said Tuesday.
Charles Duelfer told the Council on Foreign Relations that it was easy for the U.S. government to misinterpret Saddam's actions, but the former dictator didn't necessarily have only Washington in mind when he shut U.N. inspectors out of weapons sites after 1998.
That left the world to wonder whether he was rebuilding his banned weapons programs.
"There was a greater concern than we could appreciate sitting here in Washington of the threat posed by Iran," Duelfer said in a rare public appearance. "Our gut feeling for that was not the same as the gut feeling one would have sitting in Baghdad." He told the council that there were intelligence failures on both sides. The United States couldn't discern Saddam's true motives, while he miscalculated just how much U.S. attitudes had changed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
"Saddam was certainly aware of the WMD assessments of Iran and he created a certain ambiguity about what his capabilities were," Duelfer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
ping
He had stuff gone the UN had already tagged and admitted to other stuff.
I think it is mostly in Syria and Jordan.
Same thing Jung-Il is doing.
Saddam mislead the entire world community about WMDs! Impeach and try him for crimes against humanity!
Seriously, even if he had none at the time of the Invasion, I'm glad we took him out before the time we would've had a dirty war with him. Thank God.
bump
ping
Maybe we are giving him the benefit of too much doubt. There is a third reason and that is stupidity.
You must admit that in his undies he doesn't look like an Einstein.
You don't suppose it had anything to do with Jacques Chirac telling Saddam "under the U.N. oil-for-food program...you could possibly bring an end to sanctions imposed after your 1990 invasion of Kuwait" ??
Short story--Saddam proved he wasn't a good poker player. First rule: Don't bet the farm. Second rule: Bluffs get called. Third rule: Gotta' know when to fold 'em...
Suppose a man walks into a bank, goes up to the teller with his hand in his pocket and says, "I have a gun. Give me all the money." If a guard overhears him and takes the perp out with one to the head, it is irrelevant if the perp had a gun in his pocket or just his finger.
Saddam was supposed to provide an accounting. He had admitted having weapons before. Indeed, he had used poison gas on the Kurds, to name just one instance. The world asked him what he had done with his WMD. His non-answer provided a sufficient reason to remove him. That the U.N. and the crooks and cowards on the security council failed in their obligation to do so reflects badly upon them. That President Bush took it upon himself to do the job should be to his everlasting credit, and would be in a world where FOX News and FreeRepublic were the mainstream media.
Ah, poor Saddam. He gambled and lost. Oh well. Boy, HOUSE was great tonight!
Hmmm, these people didn't think so.
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." -President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." -President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." -Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." -Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." -Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
"Hussein has . . . chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." -Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
"There is no doubt that . . . Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of an elicit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." -Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." -Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." -Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." -Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons . . . ." -Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-if necessary-to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." -Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . . . . We also should remember that we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." -Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do." -Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members . . . . It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." -Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." -Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation . . . . And, now. he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction . . . . So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real . . . ." -Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
Of course he had WMDs, we gave him plenty of time to get it out of there! Look at all the time we wasted by going to the UN, who was on the take in the oil for food scandal.
"Russia Hid Saddam's WMDs"
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10111
The above piece is written by Ion Pacepa, who took his marching orders from the KGB as a Romanian spy chief.
I know, it's illogical to figure he didn't have at least chemical stuff prior to us going in.
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