Not Missing: Moved (Saddam's WMD are missing only because we haven't looked in the right places)

The American Prowler ^ | 6/13/2005 | Jed Babbin

[Treader]

I appreciate your premise, yet will decline from agreement. If found where ever, there is always a chain of evidence. May we never find out who is correcto-mundo, by unleased circumstance,for this I pray...

[AntiGuv]

All WMDs leave a traceable signature of manufacture, even after usage. Didn't know that did ya?

Well, no. I didn't know that since to my knowledge that is a false statement (in the sense that the signature would be unique to Iraqi WMDs), but even to whatever extent it may be true, unless we have a signature to compare them against, any WMDs might as well be from Kiribati for all we would know...

We need to find verifiably Iraqi WMDs before we have any kind of signature of manufacture against which to compare WMDs found in, say, Syria. If we had verifiably Iraqi WMDs to compare against, we wouldn't be having this conversation..

[traviskicks]

.. going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind.
-Jed Babbin, former deputy undersecretary of defense in the first Bush administration

[Treader]

Let's hope that is the scenario! It was all smoke and mirrors- just to get to those Iraqi oil reservations, right?

[endthematrix]

They have the capability today! An UNSCOM report recently released confirmed this. However, they noted that it would be in small batches (not large enough for military needs) and could be used by small groups or individuals!

[AntiGuv]

What comparable sample signatures do we have? This is starting to sound like an urban legend to me. LOL

A nerve agent of a given type has the same chemical composition as any other nerve agent of that given type, no matter where it originates.

Botulinum toxin is botulinum toxin. Period. There are four strains that afflict humans and two that afflict animals (and one that's not known to have caused disease). The Syrians could get their hands on any one of them just as well as the Iraqis, so there would be no way to distinguish.

The same goes for aflatoxin producing microbes and to a lesser extent anthrax. Known anthrax strains are traceable, but none of them can be restricted exclusively to Iraq.

What else is there?

[AntiGuv]

I think it was just pure 100% incompetence, myself.

[endthematrix]

" If we had verifiably Iraqi WMDs to compare against, we wouldn't be having this conversation.."

What? You still don't know we have that stuff? Anthax, Sarin, Mustard, Uranium?

[endthematrix]

Arrrg! I'm at the end of my "work" shift and my boss will be here in like five minutes...and it's the weekend for me pal. I'll try to get info stat!

[Treader]

By the by, Iraq did not invent any weapons of mass destruction- all materials were "inherited" from somewhere else- all those signatures are better recognized than dna- regardless of subtle change by manufacture evolution.

[sauropod]

Important article.

[endthematrix]

Re: "The location of manufacture"

This was more the line I was explaining. I have to sign off - it's the weekend for me!

[AntiGuv]

The Ames strain of anthrax which was known to have been used by Iraq was not exclusive to Iraq. The first hint should've been that it's named after a town in Iowa....

The same applies to any other strain of anthrax.

This is sarin, no matter where it's found or where it came from:

This is mustard gas, no matter where it's found or where it came from:

This is yellowcake, no matter where it's found or where it came from:

[libertylover]

Democrat "logic": Osama Bin Laden does not exist because we haven't found him yet.

[CGVet58]

let's also suppose that a terrorist attack is launched from within Syria against Jordan, via ground (truck) borne delivery, and this attack is thankfully prevented, vermin captured, etc. The ensueing investigation shows the lethality of the attack enough to take out something like 20 square blocks and was targetted against government buildings. The composition of the bio-chem agents are of such a nature that no intelligence agency in the world shows documentation that the Syrians were working on that particular type of weapon, but that Iraq was. Let's then suppose that the media squashes this story for about 10 days, whereas Patriot internet like Free Republic report it almost immediately - and when they finally get around to reporting it, key elements of the story are slushed around in typical leftist/MSM, "hide-it-below-the-fold" manner

Oh, wait... this actually DID happen, just the way I'm "supposing..." above.

CGVet58

[Treader]

"I think it was just pure 100% incompetence, myself." I admire your confidence level. Care to briefly expound on your thought of "...pure 100% incompetence?" I would love to learn something bold and new on this subject.

[GBA]

"...the basis for the hyperlibs' existence: to discredit George Bush and the war at any cost."

They were the same with Reagan. It doesn't matter how noble or how necessary the actions of a Republican administration. The left can't let Conservatives/Republicans win. That is perhaps the key difference between conservatives and liberals: liberals will unfailingly put their quest/lust for political power ahead of everything else, be it country or even the very beliefs they claim to hold dear.

[AntiGuv]

They expected rose petals and champagne corks, but got bullets and carbombs instead. Why anyone should expect otherwise from Islamists is beyond me. They aren't even permitted to have champagne, for that matter. LOL

[BillyCrockett]

Not only what Duelfer said in his report but David Kay's report said many things also that surely would not leave anyone "sure" that Sadman never had WMDs. Unless you were a liberal... of course.

[Treader]

Your cynicism is deep and abiding. Apparently, my crown has been given to you. Great regards to ya...thorny bastard, ain't it?!