UN Inspectors Find 12 Empty Chemical Warheads -- Fox News Alert

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[nwctwx]

Breaking on FOX News, more Information soon...

[mitchbert]

I must say, though, that I liked how he always stayed faithful to his wife back home.

IIRC he did cheat on her once. I clearly recall Haykeye trying to talk B.J. out of writing his wife and telling her about it.

Personally, I liked his character for the most part. Too bad he's such a dolt in real life.

[finnman69]

The 122 mm shells were found when inspectors searched bunkers built in the late 1990s at the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area, about 75 miles south of Baghdad, said Hiro Ueki, the spokesman for U.N. weapons inspectors in Baghdad, in a statement.


The team examined one of the warheads with X-ray equipment and took away samples for chemical testing, Ueki said.


While the artillery rockets are evidence of an Iraqi weapons program, they may not amount to a "smoking gun" unless some sort of chemical agent is also detected, said U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.


Key questions with the new find are whether any chemical weapons were ever loaded into these warheads, and, if so, when, officials said.


Serial numbers on the rockets should tell inspectors where and when they were made, one defense official said.

---

But Lt. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison officer to the inspection teams, said they were short-range shells imported in 1988 and mentioned in Iraq's December declaration.


He expressed "astonishment" over "the fuss made about the discovery by a U.N. inspection team of `mass destruction weapons.' It is no more than a storm in a teacup," Amin told a news conference hastily called after the U.N. announcement.


Amin said the inspection team found the munitions in a sealed box that had never been opened and was covered by dust and bird droppings.


"When these boxes were opened, they found 122-mm rockets with empty warheads. No chemical or biological warheads. Just empty rockets which are expired and imported in 1988," Amin said, adding similar rockets were found by U.N. inspectors in 1997.


Physicist David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former nuclear weapons inspector in Iraq, said that the discovery would represent a violation "if Iraq knew that these warheads existed and they are for chemical weapons."


Inspectors will "have to test to see if there are any traces of chemical weapons in the warheads and in the bunkers where they were found, and they will have to talk to the Iraqis," Albright said.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

IIRC he did cheat on her once.

I must have missed that one. Ah, well, when a show runs twelve years you have to contrive some plotlines here and there. At least they didn't bring in a baby to liven up the mix. Or Ted McGinley. (See http://www.jumptheshark.com -- allows people to talk about when their favorite shows started going downhill).

[nicmarlo]

he knew something but wasn't going to make it public knowledge until he was ready to act. . . . the world will be in shock when Bush finally presents the evidence he has been sitting on, practically from day 1, IMO

I agree; Bush does not make empty threats or do things off the cuff, so to speak, at least not on important things. By off the cuff, I mean, he does not react on emotions...he thinks through, gathers info., processes it, debates it, gets further feedback, before he puts the guns in his hands.

[Poohbah]

Yup.

After the second plane hit, he was babbling about how "some kind of electronic failure" MIGHT have crashed two planes into two adjacent buildings...

Gawd, what a dolt!

[RetiredArmy]

I think that Barbar, Sean Penn, Rosie O'Donut, The Beast, Klintoon, Baldwin, and all should have a big rally Friday night in Hollyweird in support of Iraq. Then, just so happens, the Navy and Air Force have targets ready to hit and that particular house would be on the list of targets. Would give me a warm and fuzzy all over!!! (+)

[pepsionice]

Course, I don't want suggest something stupid...but there are probably 100 US special operations folks running around Iraq. How hard would it be for one of them to 'plant' this stuff and drive away? The US needs something of value to show that the military build-up is required...and perhaps Saddam did finally screw up...but I also can list over 100 occassions since the Civil War where the US government laid out bogus situations and the media jumped on them quickly and failed to see the tricks involved. I would hope this is a accurate report and only Saddam's folks are involved.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

With 'the smoking gun' on Iraq also being reported, we are going to war-soon. I hope to God there is some element of surprise for the sake of our troops.

[PhiKapMom]

Stupid is right! Do you realize how hard it is to get people on the ground and they don't go around carrying crates of warheads with them? Not to mention if you had bothered to read, you would know that Iraq already admitted they were theirs.

[Kilborn]

Sitting on since Day 1...Well at least he works quick...

He's gotten hit hard from his opponents becuase he doesn't share anything. Sharing this mother lode of information with leadership or the general public would be in the best interest for all, including Bush, wouldn't it?

His argument for security reasons is null because if he shows the source of the information after the bombs in Iraq, enemies like Iran, Usama, North Korea and others will learn these secrets.

[Peach]

He's gotten hit hard from his opponents becuase he doesn't share anything. Sharing this mother lode of information with leadership or the general public would be in the best interest for all, including Bush, wouldn't it?

Actually, no. One doesn't share information that demands war until one's military is ready.

[epluribus_2]

Who wants to wager what the smoker is?

place bets for:

1. '91 Anthrax attacks on U.S. government and media. Chemical match with Iraqi anthrax weaponization agents (1 vote for me)
2. Salman Pak used as training platform for 9/11 hijackers and Al-Qaeda field trip school.
3. Saddama and Osama in taped conversations discussing attacking America, Zionists, and Infidel-Loving Saudi Family. (doubtful but - who would know)
4. Evidence from Afghanistan concerning Iraqi sponsorship of Al-Qaeda cells for purposes of obtaining nuclear material.
5. Ashcroft wheels out captured Al-Qaeda leader who confesses/complains about Iraqi bosses.
6. Czech, UAE, or other meetings between mukhabarat and Al-Qaeda planners before 9/11, Cole bombing, French Oil Tanker, etc.
7. WTC I planner in custody. (Currently living in Baghdad)
8. Bush 41 assasination planner in custody. (remember this?)
9. Cargo intercepted on the way to Iraq containing nuclear material from a. Former Soviet State, b. Korea, c. Pakistan.
10. Satellite image of chinese fire drill style movement of Iraqi WMD as inspectors drive to sites. (probable)

Bonus 1: Osama himself - or genetic material - collected by special forces in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Bonus 2: All of 1 through 10, but the Bat Rastards still wouldn't believe it and still cry "Enron! Halliburton!"...

[PhiKapMom]

You seem to have a very low grasp of intelligence. What do you think, we are going to leave our people in place after we compromise them by telling the world what we know? That's why you don't expose them before you are ready!

That doesn't even factor in the fact we needed time to get prepared.

Do democRATs take stupid pills or what?

[Quilla]

By off the cuff, I mean, he does not react on emotions...he thinks through, gathers info., processes it, debates it, gets further feedback, before he puts the guns in his hands.

David Frum describes the President's decision making process and speech preparations pretty much the same way. Before he even utters a word, you can bet he checked and double-checked the ramifications. He doesn't seem to me to be the type of man who would enter [our servicemen] into war without following the same process you mentioned.

[wimpycat]

Too bad the days of the battleship are over, aesthetically speaking, of course. Those great big guns going off--BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!--would put the fear of God in anyone.

USS North Carolina BB-55 during firing trials in 1941 U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # K-13511

[Peach]

I vote for #1 and have since October 2002.

[hchutch]

Wow - I'll check those out this evening.

[dep]

"It is no more than a storm in a teacup," Amin told a news conference hastily called after the U.N. announcement.

given yesterday's north korean "pie in the sky" thing, seems as if things are busy down at the axis of evil diner.

dep

[finnman69]

You did suggest something stupid.

Yeah, we snuck a case full of 122mm chemical warhead tipped rockets using the M-1000 Stealth Forklift and snuck it in to an Iraqi Military depot and deposited it in a bunker.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

With a wacko like so damn insane he was bound to slip up. 72 palaces, underground bunkers, dolphin pools in all 72 palaces.... He has so much in his dynasty he cannot hide everything all of the time. Get real, that this was anything else. Iraq is even giving the date of the silos as 1986, they are even claiming- they were there but 'expired.' Your theory is leading to the enemy with more lies and ideas.