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Gold Star Mom: Iraq Had WMDs
NewsMax ^ | 8/28/05 | NewsMax

Posted on 08/28/2005 10:28:47 AM PDT by wagglebee

A Gold Star mom who lost her son in Iraq said Sunday that there was enough evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction to justify going to war against Saddam Hussein.

"I have no concern about there being weapons of mass destruction of some regard there, that were going to be used against Americans," Rhonda Winfield told "Fox News Sunday."

Mrs. Winfield was responding to fellow Gold Star mother Barbara Porchia, who insisted during the same segment that there were no WMDs in Iraq.

"I have seen photos of entire fighter jets buried in the sand", Mrs. Winfield countered. "I have seen pictures of entire caches of weapons that just my son's unit would uncover."

Mrs. Winfield, who lost her son, Lance Corporal Jason Redifer, in January 2005, was referring to the July 2003 discovery by U.S. Marines of more than 30 still-functional fighter aircraft buried beneath the sands of Baghdad.

Her comments show that at least some families of troops serving in Iraq do not accept the widespread misconception that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. attacked in March 2003.

Among the WMD evidence discounted by the press [and almost never noted by the Bush administration]:

* 500 tons of yellow cake uranium stored at Saddam's al Tuwaitha nuclear weapons development facility, which was secured by U.S. troops after the invasion.

* 1.8 tons of partially enriched uranium discovered at al Tuwaitha, which was removed by the U.S. Energy Department in June 2004 amidst warnings it could be used to produce a dirty bomb.

* Centrifuge parts and blueprints hidden by one of Saddam's top nuclear scientists, who told U.S. interrogators that he was ordered to keep the bombmaking tools ready to resume production at a moment's notice.

* Satellite photos from 2002 that showed new construction at al Tuwaitha, which had been largely destroyed in U.S. bombing raids during the first Gulf War and Operation Desert Fox.

* The discovery of nearly two dozen artillery shells loaded with Sarin and mustard gas, which was reported in June 2004 by Iraq Survey Group chief Charles Duelfer.

"I know why my son went there," Mrs. Winfield told Fox. "They watched those towers fall and they knew that the liberties that we have were something that they believed were worth fighting for."


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: goldstarmothers; iraq; rhondawinfield; sheehan; wmds
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To: HungarianGypsy

A nuke exploding here in the US wouldn't be proof enough for the libs.


41 posted on 08/28/2005 1:19:47 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
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To: Marauder

"WMD evidence discounted by the press and almost never noted by the Bush administration"

Here in the People's Republic of Minnesota the official party line is there is no evidence.

The fact is Saddam was playing a game. He had dismantled his program, that is, took it apart and hid it, buried it, until the heat was off. Thus his not cooperating with the inspectors. He absolutely did have something to hide. I would suspect that during the inspections (pre-GW2), he was playing the region to make it appear like "Maybe I have them, maybe I don't". Possibly to keep playing regional bully after GW1. Fact is missiles have been found (not yet destroyed) that exceed the range threshhold. What else is squirreled away? As in buried, carted to Syria, etc.
Also note how fast Khaddafy came clean after Saddam emerged from the spider hole.

But Minnesotans, especially those in Ninnie-apolis, don't want to hear that.


42 posted on 08/28/2005 1:27:23 PM PDT by Fred Hayek (Liberalism is a mental disorder)
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To: Marauder

Perception may be all, but propaganda from the left shouldn't be repeated on a conservative political forum as though it were fact...........which is what you did.


43 posted on 08/28/2005 2:09:19 PM PDT by ohioWfan (If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray......)
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To: Thumbellina

The al-Jazeera "news" story is hillarious. No attempt at impartiality or even honesty. And THEY CAN'T HANDLE GRAMMAR! Did wrapping table-cloths around their heads make them this stupid, or were they born that way?


44 posted on 08/28/2005 2:33:12 PM PDT by Burr5
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To: wagglebee
i have seen pics from iraq of HUGE missiles...HUGE...like the size of a large SHIP, and i can't understand why those aren't considered weapons of mass destruction. yeah, you can see those aren't MASS destruction of MILLIONS of people like biological warfare (like DOCTOR GERM MADE?), but i dunno why the government doesn't release some of the pictures of the stuff they HAVE found because that stuff was LETHAL, and would have .

second to immigration issues, i would say i am most disappointed with DUBYA about this.

plus, hey, why doesn't anyone talk about DOCTOR GERM???? she was employed by hussein as the creator of biological warfare, but there were no WMD? hmm.

45 posted on 08/28/2005 2:37:26 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: Burr5

I'd lay odds they're born retards? LOL Why else would someone wear diapers around their heads?


46 posted on 08/28/2005 2:42:47 PM PDT by Thumbellina (As I recall, Kerry referred to terrorism as "overrated".)
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To: wagglebee

So long as a Republican is in the W.H. they don't, and to be perfectly honest, the modern Liberal establishment prefers appeasement over confrontation even when a Democrat is in the House.


A REAL Gold Star Mom speaks? And speaks well, giving her son honor.

And, yes, MSM. Not all of us have swallowed the line there were no WND's. We found some. Whether they were once larger, can't say for certain, but my gut tells me yes. And I'm sure this belief will irk more then a few on the Left and right, doesn't matter.


47 posted on 08/28/2005 3:20:18 PM PDT by Soul Seeker
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To: ohioWfan

Don't spin out, little buddy; I was addressing the phenomenon, not spreading the tripe.

Settle down.


48 posted on 08/28/2005 3:32:35 PM PDT by Marauder (You can't stop sheep-killing predators by putting more restrictions on the sheep.)
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To: Marauder
This alone IMO would tend to reverse his plummeting job approval rate. What is this administration thinking?

I think there is plenty of time. Remember that the Bush administration is really into timing. Before the 2006 elections the following will happen:

1. Saddam and his minions will go on trial

2. The Iraqis will vote on their constitution and there will be another election for parliment

3. All kinds of evidence could come forward unexpectedly and just the right time.

The libs really do need to be careful, because they have a tendency to go way out on a limb and Dubya is just standing there with his chainsaw.

49 posted on 08/28/2005 3:39:06 PM PDT by McGavin999 ("You must call evil by it's name" GW Bush ......... It's name is Terror)
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To: wagglebee

Rhonda. God Bless you.


50 posted on 08/28/2005 3:41:18 PM PDT by armymarinemom (My sons freed Iraqi and Afghanistan Honor Roll students.)
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To: Zeroisanumber
You just happen to not mention the programs themselves.

"From the evidence available through the actions and statements of a range of Iraqis, it seems clear that the guiding theme for WMD was to sustain the intellectual capacity achieved over so many years at such a great cost and to be in a position to produce again with as short a lead time as possible—within the vital constraint that no action should threaten the prime objective of ending international sanctions and constraints. Saddam continued to see the utility of WMD. He explained that he purposely gave an ambiguous impression about possession as a deterrent to Iran. He gave explicit direction to maintain the intellectual capabilities. As UN sanctions eroded there was a concomitant expansion of activities that could support full WMD reactivation. He directed that ballistic missile work continue that would support long-range missile development. Virtually no senior Iraq; believed that Saddam had forsaken WMD forever. Evidence suggests that, as resources became available and the constraints of sanctions decayed, there was a direct expansion of activity that would have the effect of supporting future WMD reconstitution."
Charles Duelfer Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence Baghdad, September 2004

Emphasis was put to these words within the report itself to make them stand out.

Even more telling in this quote and other information within the report is the fact that as restrictions were lifted against Iraq through the O.F.F. program the more the programs began to flourish once again.

Kinda blows the "let the sanctions do their job" argument all to hell. A argument directly nullified in the report but allowed to continue because the media and the ignorant allow it to be.
51 posted on 08/28/2005 3:45:43 PM PDT by baystaterebel (F/8 and be there!)
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To: Marauder
Don't spin out, little buddy; I was addressing the phenomenon, not spreading the tripe.

Settle down.

LOL! Little buddy?? Cute........where did you come up with that one?

THIS is what you said in post #3.....

This alone IMO would tend to reverse his plummeting job approval rate. What is this administration thinking?

No qualifiers. Talking about his 'plummeting job approval rate' as though it were fact. Weaseling out of it now is pointless. It's here in black and white.

And I'm very well settled, but thanks for the concern, big buddy.

I just appreciate accuracy and intellectual honesty. Admit you were wrong and move on. It's not that hard.

52 posted on 08/28/2005 4:00:51 PM PDT by ohioWfan (If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray......)
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To: baystaterebel
A few more tidbits from ISG Report:

WMD concerns are not merely of historic interest. ISG chemical weapons (CW) and counterterrorism experts uncovered and tracked down an active insurgent group that had been using former Regime CW experts to attempt to create and use CW for use against the Coalition. This was dubbed the Al Abud network after the location of the first raid where insurgents were found attempting to acquire ricin. A very aggressive investigation by ISG and a series of raids have apparently been successful in containing this threat. This has been a major success, but will require sustained attention by both Coalition and IIG since terrorists have long demonstrated an intention to obtain WMD and use it. This could occur inside or outside Iraq.

While the future size and direction of the Iraq Survey Group are currently under review, the requirement remains to collect further information related to threats posed by residual elements of the former Regime’s WMD programs. There will also be new information from individuals and sources, which will come to light. Moreover, certain defined questions remain unanswered. For example, we cannot express a firm view on the possibility that WMD elements were relocated out of Iraq prior to the war. Reports of such actions exist, but we have not yet been able to investigate this possibility thoroughly. Likewise, there remains some uncertainty concerning reports of mobile BW capabilities—though we have conducted an extensive investigation and we have a paucity of confirmatory information, there is still some possibility that such a capability did exist.


I have glanced over the entire report before, and this information is from the Transmittle Sheet and a Scope Note of the ISG Report but the more you sift through this report the more you understand that President Bush had to act and why. This threat was never just going to go away. Add to this the fact that connects between Iraq and Al Quida can not be disproven it becomes even more apparent President Bush was right to invade Iraq and topple Saddam.

The funny thing is almost ALL of the evidence supports President Bush's reasoning and very little contradicts him.
53 posted on 08/28/2005 4:07:19 PM PDT by baystaterebel (F/8 and be there!)
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To: wagglebee
"I have seen photos of entire fighter jets buried in the sand"

Bump.

54 posted on 08/28/2005 4:19:20 PM PDT by T. Buzzard Trueblood ("Casey was proud to be a soldier." Patrick Sheehan, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan's father)
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To: Mo1

Great photo.


55 posted on 08/28/2005 4:20:05 PM PDT by T. Buzzard Trueblood ("Casey was proud to be a soldier." Patrick Sheehan, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan's father)
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To: wagglebee

It almost looks as though the President is slow playing all the weaponry they have found, the direct and multiferous ties between al-Queda, Iraq, and international terrorist groups just to see how far the RATs will up the ante. And with the on-going revelations of ABLE DANGER and the other treachery by Clinton becoming more difficult for the Traitor Media to keep its treasonous claims (no wMD, no danger from Iraq, no aQ ties) afloat.

Are we seeing a perfect Rovian blitzkreig developing? Am I delusional? Both?


56 posted on 08/28/2005 6:35:26 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (Public Enemy #1, the RATmedia.)
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To: justshutupandtakeit

I cannot understand what possible reason Bush would have for not publicizing the Iraq-al Qaida connections, WMDs and Able Danger. Most people have no idea what Able Danger even is, nor are they aware of the stockpiles of weapons that have been found in Iraq.


57 posted on 08/28/2005 6:41:25 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: Zeroisanumber

What is undeniable are the many ongoing forbidden weapons found, the programs for rapid recreation of any UN forbidden weapons, and the continuous hiding of things from the weapons inspectors. Nor is there any doubt that Salman Pak was a bio/chem weapons testing base as well as hijacker training center.

In addition the chemicals to produce devestating WMDs are easily disguised with ordinary usages. There is no doubt in my mind that the weapons were there and are there still for the most part. But it is not as though there is some great difference between what they have in multi-ton quantities and some mythical WMD.

There was sufficient yellow cake to make thousands of dirty bombs. Just to get that out of the terrorists' reach was sufficient justification for invasion and only one of a half dozen others.


58 posted on 08/28/2005 6:45:06 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (Public Enemy #1, the RATmedia.)
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To: Freee-dame

One ammo dump was so large that it could have supplied at least 1/3 of the US Marine Corps. AND they were everywhere:" schools, mosques, municipal buildings HOSPITALS.


59 posted on 08/28/2005 6:47:17 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (Public Enemy #1, the RATmedia.)
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To: HungarianGypsy

Labeled "This is for you Bill Clinton"


60 posted on 08/28/2005 6:48:56 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (Public Enemy #1, the RATmedia.)
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