Bush Says Iraqi Weapons May Be Destroyed

AP ^ | Apr. 24, 2003 | RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

W started the war because he knew prcisely that Iraq had WMD. This implies that he knew where they were. You don't have nearly 140 Americans killed on some second-hand rumor.

Or do you?

[Poohbah]

Prior to the invasion, Saddam accused Kuwait of secretly drilling 'diagonally' so that they would tap into Iraq oil. Kuwait was also guilty of manipulating the price of oil for the sole purpose of causing economic pain to Iraq.

Interesting choice of words, good sir.

You seem to be saying that whatever Saddam Hussein says is true, without any further discussion.

You know there's a bounty on your head, Mr. al-Sahaf?

[American Blood]

How do you explain the 3000 chemical suits and antidote that was found with the republican guard? Are you going to fall for another one of Saddams tricks? Are you going to completely discount the possibility that the weapons were either destroyed and/or moved out of the country just to make us lose some measure of credibility? Reasonable people know for a fact that Saddam had an ongoing chemical/biological weapons program, as well as an experienced and effective concealment program. Why are so quick to shy away from the facts?

[Steven W.]

You don't know what those cannisters contain - the preliminary tests indicated a combination Saddam "Cocktail" containing multiple chemical warfare agents. The offical tests are still pending and results have not yet been released.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Right. And Saddam asked Kuwait to immediately stop stealing Iraqi oil.

The Kuwaitis claimed that they were unable to stop that which, they said, were not doing in the first place... and... the rest is history. (and we all know how objective history can be)

[GretchenEE]

Wasn't "John Beresford Tipton" the hero of the old TV series, a multi-millionaire who searched for people with great financial needs, and then put them, unwittingly, to a test of character that they had to pass, not knowing that doing the right things would result in him giving them a million bucks?

[mrsmith]

"... setting up his critics to go after the bait. "

Shhh, don't be a killjoy. This is already an amusing thread.

[Alberta's Child]

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie believed Saddam Hussein at the time, as did anyone else in the oil industry who knows about directional drilling. The issue wasn't so much "diagonal drilling" as it was drilling in oil reserves that straddled the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. In addition to tapping oil from disputed sources, the Kuwaitis were driving down the price of oil on the market (thereby adversely affecting Iraq's ability to recover financially from the Iran-Iraq war).

[Poohbah]

The Kuwaitis claimed that they were unable to stop that which, they said, were not doing in the first place

When did you stop beating your wife?

When did you stop molesting small boys?

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

At one point we were saying Saddam had hundreds of tons of chemical or biological weapons.

Not to mention those imaginary mobile bio-labs, huge nuclear facilities hidden under large lakes and all kinds of baby milk factories, ballistic missiles by the thousands, robotic drones with bio/chemical delivery 'aparatuses'...

[RightWhale]

Sec. Powell

He certainly did that presentation at the UN poorly. IMHO it was an especially weak presentation. Maybe the buildup to the presentation was unjustifiable. He did not deliver as promised. Maybe he had to put it together on his own without help from the CIA and the Pentagon. Looked that way. While he is Admin and knows the rules, he isn't in the decision loop, and he apparently did not favor the invasion.

[The FRugitive]

I agree...this will look bad if none can be found.

[alnick]

How does one destroy these chem or bio weapons? Wouldn't there be a pile of charred, broken howitzer cannisters in a pit somewhere?

Or maybe the Euprhates River would test positive for high levels of mustard agents and cyanide.

[Shermy]

Ah yes, the slant drilling argument. It's called "pretext".

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

Or maybe the Euprhates River would test positive for high levels of mustard agents and cyanide.

The Germans dropped some cyanide into the Rhine river back in the late 70's or early 80's. It was a huge ecological disaster. All fish died. The Rhine became a dead river.

[RightWhale]

maybe the Euprhates River would test positive

Haven't heard much lately about that. It wouldn't be too hard for a chemical engineer to figure how much chemical could safely be dumped into the drain.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

If time goes by and then he *finds* them, people will believe that he came up empty and planted them to cover his ass.

Stupid people will. The kind that like to watch the BBC and Al-Jazeera for factual information. They thought Baghdad Bob was telling the truth to the bitter end.

These people would never believe us irregardless of what was found when. Screw 'em. Their own prognostications about the war went very very bad, and this is the only shred left for them to hang on to.

[billbears]

Bush Says Iraqi Weapons May Be Destroyed

Frankly, I'm shocked, just shocked I tell you < /sarcasm> You'd think that if the Dept of Defense and all these other operatives within the government knew exactly where the weapons were but wouldn't tell the inspectors, that immediately after the war they would have gone to get them. That is if they knew exactly where they were as we were all promised they did...

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

It is possible to see a 'trial of the century' where a number of Iraqis are tried for... destroying Saddam's WMD's.