Posted on 03/12/2006 2:41:39 PM PST by FairOpinion
There have been just too many recent reports, impossible to brush off, that they were transferred to Syria shortly before the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The place to start is the 2 million documents captured by U.S. forces in Iraq along with more than 2,500 hours of audiotapes of Saddam Hussein’s meetings with underlings.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has introduced a bill to release the material and may hold hearings this spring. Hoekstra says he has an open mind. His staff tried to check claims by former Iraqi Air Force Gen. Georges Sada that chemical or biological weapons were flown to Syria in 56 flights, but was unable to confirm it.
The general in charge of Pentagon spy satellites has admitted observing large truck convoys from Iraq to Syria before the war began.
The CIA’s clandestine war against the White House means the agency cannot be trusted for an honest account of what’s in this material. Hoekstra’s committee, and Congress, should make sure that an independent body with no ax to grind checks the documents and releases every last one that can be made public safely, except perhaps for the mess-kit repair orders and laundry invoices, no matter who might be embarrassed or how long it takes.
Washington isn’t Baghdad. Saddam’s secrets need not be protected, especially not at the expense of this administration’s credibility.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bostonherald.com ...
Somebody noticed!
Most if not all federal agencies in Washington DC are staffed largely by entrenched liberal Democrats who owe their jobs--and comfortable lifestyles--to government programs. They hate Bush with a visceral passion.
www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-13 04:47:26
MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria expects the Middle East region to be free of weapons of mass destruction, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Sunday.
The situation in the Middle East is very complicated at present, and "the policy of the United States and the Israeli occupation complicate the situation," Muallem said after arriving in Moscow for a four-day visit, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
"Syria supports the initiative of turning the Middle East into a region free from weapons of mass destruction," he said.
Muallem's talks with Russian officials are expected to focus on the UN probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the situation in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.
Syria has been under intense international pressure following the killing of Hariri last February in a massive truck bombing. Many Lebanese believed Damascus was behind Hariri's death. Syria denied any role but was forced to withdraw its troops from its smaller neighbor last April.
Syria has active contacts with the UN commission investigating Hariri's murder and expects a report by chief UN investigator Serge Brammertz to be "objective," Muallem said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Saturday Moscow stands for finding out the whole truth about the killing and all sides should offer full assistance to the probe. "We are satisfied to note that Syria has confirmed its readiness to cooperate with the international commission probing the crime," Kamynin said.
Enditem
If memory serves, archived info that contains info negative to the Clintons (in this case, it may take away a pivotal political issue) somehow "disappears".
I'm hoping that these docs and tapes are under triple U.S. Marine guard; or, that we've at least made spare copies.
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Great read.
Interesting, thanks. It makes more sense that Saddams Special Republican Guard would have moved WMDs than the Russians. Perhaps the weapons were divided..... Hope we see soon.
You are exactly right. I do not understand why the President lets the liberals get passes. It is mind boggling. I am tired of trying to figure it out. I do believe it has to do with his globalism view and in order to have this established it must begin at home as everyone gathers round and sings kumbaya.
It does not matter what the Prsident says. The media won't cover it. If you confuse their sound bite coverage with what he actually says and does, you get a biased view. One tiny example. Cameras always are positioned to look down and make a tall man look small. Clinton's camera angle is the opposite. When I want to know what Bush is actually saying, I check out the RNC website for a transcript.
The word is starting to trickle out...we just need one major push.
It's a shame they didn't have you to handle things.
another
It would not have mattered to the Bush haters if we found 100 pictures of Osama and Saddam shaking hands with each other. THEY DON'T CARE! To them, even if Saddam had enough WMDs to nuke the world, he would never have used them or he got them from Reagan in the first place. Our soldiers would still be dying daily and that is their main talking point anyway.
It's actually not that difficult a task to process. The documents must first be bulk scanned and then OCR'ed. Translation isn't necessary as Arabic/dialect keyword searches could be used to identify WMD related terms. Those documents containing the keyword hits could then be singled out for translation and human analysis.
If reports are accurate that Russian Special Forces escorted the WMD's out of Iraq and into Syria, it could only have been for one purpose and that was to get the WMD stuff safely into Russian hands. No way would Russian Spec Ops have been used as mere escorts between Iraq and "friendly" Syria. Yes, some of the equipment may have been temporarily stored in Sysria and Syrian held Lebanon but that was only temporary and you can bet that Russian Spec Ops and diplomats were there 24/7 until the gear could be loaded aboard Russian warships and taken to Russia.
Any time that WMD equipment was in Syria/Lebanon was just temporary until the Russians could arrange for it to be loaded aboard Russian warships and sent to Russia.
It was okay when I left it in your competent hands. It was a war the majority supported. Did you let the dems gain ground on purpose?
Wow. Great comeback. [yawn]
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