Crucial evidence post!
Astounding that no one here has replied to your evidence link.
1. Saddam evaded UN weapon inspectors for a numerous of years, to the point that the UN passed 14 resolutions addressing his preventing weapons inspections.
2. German, Italian, British and US intelligence all stated they believed Saddam had WMDs based on what they knew prior to the March 2003 invasion. (The Iraqi high ranking defector would later be found to have fabricated testimony, AFTER we invaded)
3. The US Senate passed a resolution of force against Saddam in 1999 by 99 to 1 vote.
4. Convoys of Trucks believed to be carrying WMD materials out of Iraq to Syria were spotted just before the March 2003 invasion.
5. Polish military units did find poison gas warheads in their area of operations.
6. Several bunkers of old poison gas warheads and components were discovered and we’re in violation of agreed WMD destruction.
7. Another factor justifying going to war with Iraq was claims that by Amnesty International and other NGOS that Saddam was responsible for the deaths of up to 600,000 civilians and military while he was in power. Killing thousands of Kurds in poison gas attacks, as well as having his two sons run torture & execution operations on hundreds of political opponents by way of acid baths, and shredding people alive in plastic recycling hammer mill units.
In retrospect, Dubya and out 30 allied countries should have remembered George H Bush’s warning recommending NOT deposing Saddam because of the “POWER VACUMN his absence would leave that would usher in greater chaos”.
However,any Americans and most here believed we invaded for just cause in 2003.
Especially in light of the precedence set by Bill Clinton and NATO invading Serbia Kosova to stop the genocide of Albanian Muslims which turned out to be false.
RE:”http://blog.usni.org/2012/07/20/iraq-chemical-weapons-moved-to-syria-before-2003-invasion
Iraq Chemical Weapons Moved to Syria Before 2003”
Thank you! Finally, a voice of reason.
There were no lies. The whole problem boils down to terminology and to the ineffectiveness of nation-building and realpolitik.
1. Terminology.
The definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) seemed to drift while GWB was in office, sometimes on a daily basis. The three things that most people thought of as WMDs were as follows:
A. Chemical Weapons, in particular nerve agents.
Iraq had these. They were shipped to Syria via the Bekaa Valley to hide them from foot-dragging UN inspectors.
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/saddams-wmd-moved-to-syria-an-israeli-says/24480/
The reason why GWB was so eager to “confess” to a “lie”? Rumor has it that European countries were selling chemical weapons and/or weapon precursors to Iraq.
B. Biological weapons.
Iraq had an active development program for these, and had industrial-level production facilities for at least one agent. Many were destroyed after Gulf War I, but the UN inspectors’ incompetence and Saddam’s dishonesty brings their complete destruction into question.
http://www.iraqwatch.org/profiles/biological.html
C. Nuclear weapons.
Iraq did not have any fully developed nukes, but were working very hard on them, like all other enemies of Israel in the region.
They had 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium stockpiled, when they should have had none after Israel bombed the French-made Osirak reactor in 1981.
2. Nation-building & realpolitik.
This was the big mistake in our war with Iraq. Nation-building in the tribal societies of the Middle East simply does not work. They become black holes that suck money and manpower (and American lives).
Our military should only do 2 things: kill people and blow stuff up. Then it should go home. Reagan understood this, that’s why we didn’t hear a peep out of Muammar Gaddafi for years after Reagan had him bombed.
Realpolitik only encourages inaction and half-measures, which (once again) is something not meant for our military. If you send troops in, don’t hamper where they need to go or what they need to do to blow up the right stuff and kill the right people.
There you go. No lies, just stupid politics.