Firt, Dr. Kay's and Sada's stories don't match beyond their claim that WMD went to Syria. So you can't really use one story to back up another.
Second, should be easy enough to prove Kay's thesis since (I would assume) our satellite surveillance monitor the Iraqi Syrian borders for heavy truck traffic (and they would show up since Syria and Iraq have soft trade) during the sanction period in the run up to invasion. If we did not monitor the border then men in this administration need to be court-martialed and impeached for dereliction of duty. It is sad you guys think so little of the ability of our men in uniform and our leadership to think Saddam could pull a fast one on them.
karnage, So Saddam allowed a Christian to rise up to #2 in the Iraqi leadership - and he did not even require a Baathist loyalty oath? How is that possible? That he protected Christians and prevented religous persecution of them? Are you trying to tell us Saddam had some good qualities?
Iraq's Saddam era foreign minister Tariq Aziz is also a Christian and the Baathist party was founded by Syrian Arab Christians. I assume you knew that as well.
John A. Shaw, Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security, who was responsible for tracking Saddam's weapons before and after the 2003 invasion, supports Gen. Sada's Syrian-transfer story. Lt. Gen. James Clapper (Ret.), head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, has said satellite imagery showed a heavy flow of traffic from Iraq into Syria just before the American invasion. In an interview with the London Telegraph in January 2004, David Kay, former head of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), said he uncovered evidence that unspecified materials had been moved to Syria shortly before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Regarding possible "dereliction of duty" by our men in uniform, I have the highest respect for our armed forces. I don't know if, prior to our actual '03 invasion, we had boots on the ground all along the Iraq-Syria border to interdict every truck passing between the two countries. Saddam had made deception an art form; his decade of success circumventing sanctions through misuse of the Oil-for-Food program is evidence of that.
I have no independent cooroboration that Gen. Sada did not join the Baath Party - only his statements, and the fact that he is one of the few high-ranking members of the former regime to enjoy positions of trust and responsibility in the new government. Regarding any possible "good qualities" of Saddam, it is Gen. Sada's contention that Saddam did not heavily discriminate against Christians in the Baghdad area.
Yes, I knew Tariq Aziz was a Christian. I've never met him, but his actions don't seem to speak well of his character.
So were WMDs : ) The cover used was that this was a "humanitarian" flight for a disaster in Syria. And those flights WERE confirmed:
BAGHDAD, June 9 (AFP) - Iraq said Sunday it has sent 20 planeloads of humanitarian assistance to Syria to help victims of Tuesday's Zeyzoun dam collapse in the north of the neighbouring country. "Iraqi Airways planes have made 20 flights to Damascus until today to take foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products to the victims," Transport Minister Ahmad Murtada Ahmad told the official INA news agency.
Firt, Dr. Kay's and Sada's stories don't match beyond their claim that WMD went to Syria. So you can't really use one story to back up another. Second, should be easy enough to prove Kay's thesis since (I would assume) our satellite surveillance monitor the Iraqi Syrian borders for heavy truck traffic (and they would show up since Syria and Iraq have soft trade) during the sanction period in the run up to invasion. If we did not monitor the border then men in this administration need to be court-martialed and impeached for dereliction of duty. It is sad you guys think so little of the ability of our men in uniform and our leadership to think Saddam could pull a fast one on them.
Oh really now...what about the six other people I cited? They all said the same thing and their stories match in that they all described the 18 wheeler shipments, which were not only caught on the American and Israeli satellite imagery, but some were physically caught on the Jordanian border and it was confirmed that those contained 20 tons of chemical weapons. A couple of them desribed the plane shipments disguised as humanitarian aid, which I proved above, was confirmed. You don't believe the Intelligence Estimate provided by "our men in uniform" and then you jump our case for "thinking so little of the ability of our men in uniform". I don't understand that kind of twisted logic. We are the ones that believe "our men in uniform", you are the one second-guessing them.