MSNBC- American Troops Have Found A Second Chemical Plant In Iraq

MSNBC | 3/23/03

[abner]

I don't think anyone is saying that it isn't suspicious. They are just saying, "not so fast" on saying it is a chemical weapons plant.

[TheConservator]

I saw those reports. I think characterizing this as "backpedaling" is a little strong.

They are being cautious. What they don't want is to trumpet this as the smoking gun, and then have to come back later at admit that they were wrong. Think of how the press would play that.

Also, one commentator made a good point--one of the reasons the Iraqis may not have used chem weapons yet is that the instant they do, their "plausible deniability" is gone. Therefore, for the US to completely expose this now might have the effect of encouraging Iraqi use of chemical weapons.

FWIW, if I were Saddam, I would be saving my chemical weapons and their delivery systems (remember, there has been no sign whatsoever of an Iraqi air force to date) for mass use at what I perceived to be the critical moment. That might well be the looming battle at Karabala.

I also have the impression that battle may be coming on faster than people realize. I think it has already started (see the thread about the battle between the Apaches and the T-72s). And the ground contact looks to start soon (maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day).

And, if I were Saddam, I would coordinate any big terror strike in the US so that it happened at about the same time. Therefore, I predict we see code red in the next 24-48 hours.

Just some semi-informed speculation.

[yukong]

Yes, a camoed factory with an electric fence and military guards. Man, they must have some serious "de-icing salt" trade secrets they are trying to protect. I guess one of the first things we need to do when we install a new government is a "patent/trademark" office. Would be a lot easier for protection of those trade secrets.

[Gwaihir]

Workin' hard for the money, eh cat?

[concerned about politics]

Brett Baier on Fox has the Pentagon backpedaling on the first chemical facility. There is definitely backpedaling.

I'm sure they know what it is, but they need an "unbiased source" to verify it. If not, propagandist on the left would have a hay day.
If it were just a regular plant, why go through all that trouble to camoflage it and guard it militarily? Generals and everything?
FOX said they were waiting for "verification."
FOX also had a ticker saying they found documentation for other sites.

[BurbankKarl]

Dan Abrams is aghast that we found these plants...

ha

Jeannie Ohm is looking cute these days. Where is Ashley Bandwidth? Awaiting the arrival of the Canadan Tugboat???

[crazykatz]

BUMP!

V

[UncleSamUSA]

Interestingly, it was the Pentagon sources giving the go-ahead to Brett Baier of Fox News earlier this evening (by confirming initial reports of the chem weapons facility being captured) that gave this story its true "legs" in the Western Media.

Caroline Glick's story from the Jerusalem Post has been out there since earlier this afternoon and was in fact posted here on FR. But besides the question from Stephy of ABC News at the CentCom briefing, no one else was running with this story until the Pentagon confirmed the story and Baier of Fox News went with it a few hours ago.

If the Pentagon is now backpedaling it is either because they want to wait for official confirmation of what chem weapons it is, or because they got too far out in front of a story that now may have some doubtful elements.

They know the stinking international press -- especially the bloody French and Russians -- will want absolutely convincing ironclad evidence in triplicate.

[ccmay]

There's little doubt that the first is a chemical plant, it's just a question of whether it makes chemical weapons.

Is it typical, in Iraq or anywhere else, for a legitimate chemical factory to be camouflaged so expertly it cannot be seen with surveillance satellites, and to have two generals and a battalion of soldiers guarding it?

-ccm

[rwfromkansas]

Breaking at Foxnews.com: smoke and fire along Baghdad skyline. Apparently, we are bombing them again in the daylight. We bombed a couple hours ago. I don't know why people say we are being soft on Iraq.

[CatOwner]

What's that suppose to mean?

[Aaron0617]

the beautiful Jeannie Ohm is on MSNBC talking about it now. She's using 'suspect'. A word the Pentagon should give out.

If this turns out to be a setup or a reg chemical plant don't want to look like idiots.

Also CNN reporting Ba'at Party HQ found. Documents, weapons, etc.

[Arkinsaw]

FOX news said about 45 minutes ago that the Pentagon seems less certain about the first site being a chemical weapons site than they were earlier in the day.

True, we must wait for the analysis of the site. However the fact that it had military barracks, a military commander, and booby traps, is a suspicious sign in itself.

[John H K]

So did anyone actually see the MSNBC report?

I went out and caught the last 5 seconds of it?

What's the deal with the second facility? Where is it?

[meisterbrewer]

Good points, all of them. I think from a PR perspective, the Pentagon wants to keep from saying anything definitive until there is independent proof. Otherwise they might give the other side a chance to develop their "excuses" and, of course, the anti-US groups would follow blindly along. Best to keep from saying anything either way until hard proof is in hand.

I used "backpedaling" because that was what all the reporters were using.

[JustPiper]

[CougarGA7]

The way I see it. They found a facility that was camoflaged and guarded. So it obviously has some strategic military value to the Iraqis. Second, there was something about it that made the people who found it think it had some chemical capacity so that would probably rule out an ammo dump.

At the very least then, what we might have here is a facility for making something like solid rocket fuel.

[Destro]

Pentagon downplays accounts of Iraqi chemical weapons factory discovery

[abner]

I'm sure they know what it is, but they need an "unbiased source" to verify it. If not, propagandist on the left would have a hay day. If it were just a regular plant, why go through all that trouble to camoflage it and guard it militarily? Generals and everything? FOX said they were waiting for "verification." FOX also had a ticker saying they found documentation for other sites.

Absolutely on all points. I am just reporting what I saw. Personally, I will be surprised if it is NOT a chem weapons factory. The original question I believe I answered was, is there a link? LOL!

[Steve_Seattle]

"We're ahead 28-2 in the first quarter."

That might be a good lead in the NFL, but it wouldn't be safe in the NBA, and I think this war is more like the NBA - the fourth quarter, when we get to Baghdad, will be rough, no lead will be safe. Saddam Hussein will try to force us to kill as many civilians as possible, or suffer heavy casualties ourselves, in the batttle of Baghdad. It is not going to be easy, or pretty.