Posted on 05/12/2003 10:59:34 AM PDT by knighthawk
There are undoubtedly weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and it is an absolute certainty that they will be found.
That, at least, was the verdict delivered by Brian Burridge, the commander of Britain's forces in the Gulf, following his return home yesterday.
"Rightly, the British public want to see the evidence, and they will," announced the air marshal.
He claimed a lot of information already gathered pointed to the existence of such weapons and said he was certain they would be found sooner or later.
Mr Burridge made that forecast as he arrived at an RAF base in London after three months based in Qatar as commander of the 45,000 British troops in the Gulf.
The campaign had been justified as it had toppled "the most oppressive regime in history bar none", said the 53-year-old air marshal.
"To see the people of Iraq face the future without the strictures of that terrible and brutal regime, that is, for me, the best thing," he said.
One of the worst things about the war had been such a high proportion of the 35 British fatalities it claimed being accounted for by friendly fire, he said. "These things are very difficult. When you go into coalition with a nation you accept the risks," he said.
"That's what you share and it's a very intimate thing. It's as intimate as a marriage in many ways.
"Friendly fire in those sort of circumstances across that coalition could be potentially corrosive, but it wasn't in our case.
"It's one of those very difficult things about modern warfare."
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