Wolfowitz says Saudi troop withdrawal was 'huge' reason for war with Iraq

Associated Press ^

[dark_lord]

Is that why they are being moved to Qatar?

Sure. You don't think that we are going to move the majority of our troops, planes, tanks, and other equipment directly from Saudi Arabia to Iraq, do you? No way. Instead they will go to Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. And of course material and personnel from those three countries will go to Iraq.

[Captain Kirk]

Err...um....Hans Blix is no longer an inspector. The Americans are and haven't found any WMD. I guess you haven't been reading the papers.

[billbears]

CLICK THIS LINK to read a complete, unfiltered transcript of the interview.

You're kidding right? I'm supposed to believe what the Defense Department says about one of their own versus an outside source?!? Vanity Fair may be a bit biased but I'd bet a good amount of money what they had him saying is a bit closer than what the defense department has him saying. Wolfowitz actually made a booboo. He admitted the neocons had an agenda other than what the 'said' agenda was

[jimbo123]

Scott Ritter, is that you? Don't you have a Burger King appointment to keep?

[Captain Kirk]

A liberal eh? Some of us don't see the world through partisan rose-colored glasses. I am conservative who opposed the Kosovo War (like most Republicans in Congress) for the same reasons I oppose this war. I am the consistent one here.

WMD's was not the only reason (the even more laughable goal of "building democracy" was also mentioned) but it was certainly the main one used against anti-war freepers like me earlier this year.

[finnman69]

Most Freepers recognize asides from WMD there were definite terorist links to Saddam as well as him being a general evil scumbag in general.

[jimbo123]

Vanity Fair is already in damage control mode backtracking on their "quote." And the Associated Press is now using the DOD's quote, not Vanity Fair's.

[VaBthang4]

5

[Captain Kirk]

Cute. If you would like to make a reasoned fact-based argument, get back to me.

[RightWhale]

Freepers bought the WMD line hook line and sinker

You'll find upon closer attention that FReepers don't buy any line. Av'g IQ 138. Sapere aude.

[jimbo123]

Saddam's checks to the Palestinian suicide bombers families are bouncing right now. The removal of Saddam has set many of the Pali lovers over the edge.

[Captain Kirk]

These links were at best low level. WMD was also the trump card of pro-war freepers (though few dare to admit it now. As to evil scumbags, that was Clinton's justification for attacking Kosovo. I guess we just disagree. Like most conservatives in the Clinton Era, I believe that national defense not Wilsonianism or nation building should govern American foreign policy.

[jimbo123]

Definitely Scott Ritter.

[Captain Kirk]

I said most not all. Go back and look at the pre-war threads and you will see that WMD was front and center.

[billbears]

That's a maybe, but it still doesn't deny the fact the statement given about WMDs in the SOTU was the reason, not a reason but the reason. After three months of rooting around in the desert with nothing but two transfer truck rigs, apparently it has become a reason.

[SJackson]

Wolfowitz: -- there have always been three fundamental concerns. One is weapons of mass destruction, the second is support for terrorism, the third is the criminal treatment of the Iraqi people. Actually I guess you could say there's a fourth overriding one which is the connection between the first two. Sorry, hold on again.

That’s pretty clear to me, and consistent with the case I remember the administration making. Numerous critics in fact contested the idea that Sadaam was engaged in terror. The skulls and corpses above prove them wrong.

Personally I think the evidence of WMD as well as manufacturing facilities will be there. Their destruction and/or transfer in no way brings Sadaam into compliance, and in six months I think we’ll know the answers to that too.

Intelligence, whether faulty or correct, is a related but separate issue. As far back as November Rumsfeld indicated that a thorough analysis of our intelligence performance in Iraq should be undertaken, regardless of the validity of our conclusions. Given our poor performance in that realm the last decade, I’d say that makes sense, and let the chips fall where they may. If it turns out our intelligence effort was defective, that merits outrage, but comes nowhere near suggesting we engaged in war under false pretences. To do that you need to prove to me that we knew Sadaam had complied with the various UN resolutions (laughable on it’s face), but the administration withheld the information.

[finnman69]

Do you believe that police should wait in their station houses untill crimes are committed before they react to the crime? Because that's the kind of foreign policy and national defense strategy you favor.

[Miss Marple]

Apparently you are unaware that the DoD TAPES every interview and provides a complete transcript. This has been Rummy's policy since long before the war on Iraq.

Apparently Vanity Fair's reporter wasn't aware of this, or didn't realize it would be posted on the DoD web site.

It is not an interpretation. It is an actual transcript from the DoD. Vanity Fair's reporter was just on Fox backtracking.

[Captain Kirk]

The graves didn't prove anyone wrong. Nobody (not even the craziest liberal) claimed that Saddam was anything other than a brutal dicator. There are plenty of such graves in the world (in Zimbabee, etc) but that doesn't mean that we should go to war.

[Captain Kirk]

I believe in national defense not humanitarian intervention, hence I supported the Afghan war which (like Pearl Harbor) was a direct respone to an attack. Iraq never made an attack and WMD's (which freepers hysterically warned would destroy New York) have proven to be a chimera. If Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were telling the truth (a big if) when they confidently warned about a clear and present danger because of WMD's, they deserve to be fired for one of the greatest intelligence failures since World War II. Unfortunately, most freepers hold "their own" to very low standards in this regard.