This is the liberal response to the WMD find: "Santorum recycles bogus Iraq WMD claims"

BTC News ^

[ChrisFelice1]

Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has been making the rounds claiming that the US has in fact discovered banned weapons in Iraq. The claims are based on the continuing sporadic appearance of pre-Gulf War I munitions containing variously disintegrated chemical weapons, and the Pentagon has said that the claims are crap: the munitions in question, mostly artillery rounds, are unusable and have been for years...

[syriacus]

Q: Why hasn't the US junked all its "pre-Gulf War" weapons?

A: Because some of the weapons are still useful for killing and destroying.

[hershey]

As Fred Barnes said on Fox yesterday, the sarin/chemical/biological weapons program could have been up and running again in a matter of days, and used against Iraqis or our troops. Many other sites mentioned as having been found in that document, not just one.

[steadfastconservative]

Saddam was supposed to have destroyed all of the WMDs that he had before the Gulf War and he claimed that he did so. This report clearly shows that he lied. Moreover, according to the report, more than 500 of these weapons were found. As Senator Santorum points out, degraded or not the sarin and mustard in these weapons poses a threat. You can read more at this link:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html

[rhombus]

1) I believe finding these weapons was the exact purpose of the UN sanctions. Old or not, the existence of these weapons is a violation of the UN mandates. They don't get a pass because these weapons were "old".

2) Much of what is said in this blog is based again on conversation with unnamed "Pentagon" officials, etc. and we are supposed to dismiss this find since the weapons are considered to be "no threat". I've yet to see someone who is arrested with an illegal substance be acquitted because the substance is "no threat".

3) What has been declassified is only a small part of the entire report. We don't know what else is in the report. Why has the left not demanded the immediate declassification of the entire report if they are so sure this is "bogus"? Further, why have they not demanded to know why this is classified in the first place?

4) What we may be seeing is only the hint of a "trump" card being played in a "game" that is much larger than just the finding of WMD in Iraq. The obvious question should be which contries supplied the materials for Saddam to make these weapons and did these same countries help him make post-91 weapons? Methinks we may see both China and Russia show a little more interest in both North Korea and Iran in the next few weeks.

Why aren't the liberals interested in these questions? Cognitive dissonance may prevent them from asking the obvious questions.

[Raycpa]

Okay move the goal posts back another 100 yards.....

May 31, 2004

We still don't know where the sarin shell came from--and whether or not there are more of them out there. "Yet more than a year later, American troops still have not found any weapons of mass destruction (unless a single artillery shell, produced in the 1980s, that possibly contained sarin nerve gas, counts)."

SO SAID Ivo Daalder and James M. Lindsay in the Los Angeles Times, on May 31, 2004. Such statements are fairly typical of the media's disdain for the mere suggestion that significant caches of weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq at the time of the U.S.-led invasion in March of 2003.

Wishful Thinking on Sarin Weekly Standard ^ | June 14, 2004 [Because The Left Forgets] | Michael Goldfarb Posted on 11/15/2005 1:50:33 PM EST by conservativecorner

[goldstategop]

Liberals' response? Karl Rove made it all up. Bush still lied and kids still die!

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[tcostell]

I recognize all the other empty headed opportunists and panderers, but who is that little guy between Murtha and Gore?

[Zavien Doombringer]

Well, that is a great side point... We know Sadam had them, the US sold them, Sadam used them against Iran and the Kurds. But with the condition of the weapons found, it's like finding a straw and a spitwad.

IMHO, There has to be another stockpile. Santorium shouldn't be pressing this as proof to justify the war.

[Raycpa]

The problem with this is that the Weapons found predate 1991 and could not be used for thier intended purpose.

Not true at all.

Regarding Iraq's VX program, the documents indicate that the Iraqis "finished work on binary that had a long shelf life." Kamal states they were able to stabilize VX: "They were able to do it by splitting VX into binary. Bombs consisted of two parts, and they made it during the last days of the Iran-Iraq war. So the components were only mixed when fired." Link

[hawkaw]

This moving of the goal posts really pi$$es me off. These are danagerous weapons and proves that Saddam had not destroyed them.

[johnny7]

Or SNL's... 'Pat'.

[ChrisFelice1]

The Left doesn't want the truth...they want THEIR TRUTH...(remember they're moral relativists)
Think about this: Why was Clinton given a pass to bomb Iraq in 1998? He was trying to destroy these SAME weapons and the Left supported it...obviously they were dangerous enough in 1998 to warrant Operation Desert Fox.

[Raycpa]

Iraq primarily filled 155-mm projectiles [the same caliber as the IED in question] with high purity Mustard that remained stable during long-term storage. However, Iraq also provided some information and documents on the development and tests of 155-mm binary nerve agent (Sarin and Cycolosarin) projectiles. UNSCOM found several examples of these munitions at the Muthanna State Establishment. Iraq stated that, despite positive test results, no industrial-scale production of binary 155-mm projectiles occurred. . . . Iraq has provided a number of explanations regarding the disposition of approximately 550 unaccounted for Mustard filled 155-mm projectiles. UNSCOM, having determined that the Mustard . . . was likely to remain stable for a long period treated this issue as a serious matter.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1522544/posts

[syriacus]

They don't get a pass because these weapons were "old"....The obvious question should be which contries supplied the materials for Saddam to make these weapons and did these same countries help him make post-91 weapons?

Great points.

[goldstategop]

Liberals don't want to be bothered with the truth. As far they are concerned, Bush is more dangerous than Saddam Hussein. Every one knows Bush led America into an unnecessary war while poor Saddam turned out to have a stockpile of World War I era chemical weapons. Not worth the loss of American lives. That's the liberal answer to the WMD findings.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[treverburton]

I think we should wait and see how this plays out, guys.
We've not done ourselves any favours in the past by 'jumping the gun'.

[Raycpa]

Liberals don't want to be bothered with the truth.

Their central truth is Bush and his supporters are evil and therefore everything he does, (good or bad) is evil.

[elhombrelibre]

Also, these items may not be good artillery rounds any more, but the chemicals inside are still lethal. If anyone doubts that, perhaps our government should release what it found by doing lab work on them because surely they did. Our own stockpile has chemical rounds that are much older than these and they're still very deadly.

[treverburton]

we should start by asking WHERE these munitions were found, and work from there.

do you see? why didn't Blix find them? why weren't they declared?

[Raycpa]

Welcome. Actually we know the routine. The MSM and rabid left will claim that 500 old 1991 era weapons isn't enough to go to war over. And when another 500 1998 weapons are found, that won't be enough and when another 500 2003 weapons are found that won't be enough and when another 5 million are found to have been transported to Syria, that will be old news and we need to move on.

So, yes we know what "jumpin the gun" in liberal speak means and we don't need a newbie to explain it to us. Hope your stay here is a long one.