Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert

The NY Times ^ | 042103 | JUDITH MILLER

[Archangelsk]

Son of a diddly. If his information is credible and the weapons are in Syria then Hezbollah - a far more dangerous outfit than al-Qaeda - has them. As I've said on a number of occasions, the war was only the beginning of the beginning.

[1066AD]

. As a result, most of the teams had done almost no weapons hunting until the fighting had largely concluded.
Nice to see major media showing common sense ! Confirmation of the death of Saddam & Sons would maybe loosen some lips too.

[VadeRetro]

If his information is credible and the weapons are in Syria then Hezbollah - a far more dangerous outfit than al-Qaeda - has them.

We might want to withhold judgement until we have a more credible, responsible source than the NY Times. ;)

[Numbers Guy]

This one's worthy of being listed as Breaking News, as it's the first step toward a smoking gun.

Kudos to the military for putting a 3-day embargo on the story until its elements could be verified. That way, unlike the other ones that eventually didn't pan out, the entire story (hints and tips *and* the verification) could be put out there.

I have a feeling that this story was leaked out in a limited way, with limited information in the hope of getting other Iraqi scientists to come forward (making it clear that the scientist's name will be protected and implying that the scientist as well will be protected).

[okie01]

I couldn't tell whether Judith Miller was just being guarded -- the facts, nuthin' but the facts -- or was writing through clinched teeth, hating the implications of these findings.

I'll bet Howell Raines hated them even more...

[Maigret]

Well the fact that Judith Miller is reporting this lends much credibility, she's been writing and investigating the subject for a good many years. I hope this gets the media attention it deserves, thanks for the post!

[Archangelsk]

Eh, probably it was breaking news, but I'm too much of neophyte to know what the vagaries of that is. Can the admins help?

[Maelstrom]

damn bump

[RaceBannon]

bumpus

[tutstar]

ping

[TrebleRebel]

An amazing report, and it makes so much sense. I, too, am getting antsy over wanting the coalition to shout 'gotcha'. I feel a bit better now.

[Illbay]

We can't be fooled by them throwing a few Iraqis our way.

I have to take exception to this notion that we're being "fooled" by anyone.

This is not the Carter or Clinton administration. This is George W. Bush who since 9/11/01 has been tireless and persistent in advancing the war on terror.

He and his advisors are NOT being "fooled" by anyone. When He himself says that "it looks like Syria's coming around to our way of thinking," then I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows far more than you or I.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmm? Since Hezbollah's main target for years has been Israel, this is not good - not good at all.

I keep thinking about Isaiah 17:1

If Hezbollah does have these chem/bio items, and they use them against Israel, we could see the fulfillment of that scripture.

[Archangelsk]

Already done.

[Bogey78O]

/sarcasm?

[Terp]

Wouldn't you go ahead and use the damned things to save your own hide?

Scratching head trying hard to figure out how using them would have saved anybodies hide.

[Parley Baer]

Iraq being a "house of horrors" was enough for me to justify the war. The WMD element will be the icing on the cake. AKA the "Slam Dunk". Parley