Posted on 10/07/2004 5:39:03 AM PDT by foreverfree
snip
WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein did not produce or possess any weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the U.S.-led invasion last year, according to a comprehensive CIA report released yesterday.
Saddam intended to someday reconstitute his illicit programs and rebuild at least some of his weapons if United Nations sanctions were eased and he had the opportunity, the report concluded. But the Iraqi regime had no formal, written strategy to revive the banned programs after sanctions, and no staff or infrastructure in place to do so, the investigators found.
snip
ff
And where did the weapons that we know he had go? Does this report say?
I can't find the link yet but there is already a conflicting report to this. I will find it!
The CIA seems to be actively trying to derail Bush. Why release this 3 weeks before the election?
Playing hide and seek with the weapons inspectors from 91 to 98 must have just been a figment of my imagination.
Wow, typical bureaucrat with an agenda.
Too bad Saddam never let us know he didn't have them (if in fact that is the case). Remember those phone intercepts Colin Powell played at the UN? "Yes, I was able to hide the weapons." "Don't say weapons on the phone!" Or something like that.
Is is possible that Saddam wanted to keep the inspectors out and play hide-and-seek with them (does ANYONE think Saddam cooperated?) so they wouldn't find out that he has NOTHING? The scenario that he wanted to be able to threaten with WMDs, but not actually have an arsenal ready-made, seems plausible. Give enough grudging, half-hearted cooperation and drag things out, so that the sanctions eventually crumble (with a little help from Saddam's well-paid partners in France, etc.) and then the reference strains and plans could be used for a REAL arsenal. If this was Saddam's thinking, I think it almost worked. Didn't France assure him that they would do everything they could in the UN to prevent a US attack?
Worst-case scenario: Saddam miscalculated (by "misunderestimating" Bush) and lost his job. A violent malignancy has been removed, and 25 million people have a chance at something better - if they are willing to fight for it.
I suppose some will disagree, or say it's spin. Certainly no one wants to see the lives of US servicemen and women lost, or worse yet, wasted.
I always thought the war was unpalatable, but the least bad of the alternatives available to us.
Yeah, I don't buy it either. And just what WAS in all those convoys of trucks that went into Syria just before the war started?
PS I still think they're in Syria.
ff
"Saddam intended to someday reconstitute his illicit programs and rebuild at least some of his weapons..."
Now he kind of won't.
The Today show told me this morning that the Bush administration was wrong--they repeated that 20 times. That's one: The Bush administration.
The UN issued resolution after resolution about Iraq’s weapons. That's two: The UN.
Funny, the Today Show didn't mention the UN.
Whether or not there were weapons, the blame for this war still falls squarely at the feet of Saddam. What a madman to deceive the world this way. I see it as a ploy for this tyrant to keep control over his people and to keep the world out so he could continue amassing his fortune. The Democrats will start shouting their "Bush lied" mantra with renewed vigor. The Bush team has to emphasize the fact that Saddam lied & that is why we are in Iraq today.
p.s. personally I think there were wmd's in that convoy to Syria before the war, but, hey, what do I know?
One thing that strikes me as odd is that this report was able to be prepared and now reported as "fact" by the MSM and the left that the entire country has been searched and there are no WM all the while reporting that Iraq has large areas that are under control by insurgents and terrorists that the coalition is unable to secure or penetrate.
I guess the sarin and mustard guess that we did find was never there before it was there.
So will JFKerry be bringing out Scott Ritter as his new ambassador to Iraq?
ff
One of the first things I remember the troops coming across after invading Iraq was a stockpile of protective body suits and gas masks. I can't help but believe that they were ready to use chemicals against our troops. The only question is where are the WMD now!
Everybody misses the point that it was Saddam's obligation, not Bush's, to proove Iraq did not have WMD. He never did. Well, too bad then.
Ummm...was this the same CIA that briefed the President and staff before going to war? So which is it? He had them in 2003 or now he doesn't in 2004?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.