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Posted on 04/24/2003 2:37:36 PM PDT by A Vast RightWing Conspirator
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28 minutes ago
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By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
LIMA, Ohio - President Bush (news - web sites) raised the possibility Thursday that any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were destroyed before or during the U.S.-led war, suggesting for the first time that coalition troops may come up empty in their search.
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Bush, who is expected to mark the end of hostilities soon, defied much of the world to wage war against Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in a bid to rid Iraq (news - web sites) of weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi leaders asserted the nation had none, and an intensive search by coalition forces has uncovered no proof so far of chemical or biological weapons or a nuclear weapons program.
"He tried to fool the United Nations (news - web sites) and did for 12 years by hiding these weapons. And so it's going to take time to find them," the president said at the Lima Army Tank Plant. "But we know he had them. And whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth."
Senior administration officials began this week to scale back expectations that weapons of mass destruction would be found. Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer (news - web sites), said Wednesday that success of the search effort depends "not on finding something by bumping into it" but on information provided by Iraqis who might have been involved in such programs.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush's remarks were based on information from at least one Iraqi scientist who has led coalition forces to materials used in the production of weapons of mass destruction and who has said some weapons were destroyed before the war, others perhaps afterward.
It is believed that some weapons may have been removed from Iraq, and some probably remain, the official said.
France, Russia and other allies opposed to the war want U.N. inspectors to verify any evidence of weapons uncovered by the United States. The Bush administration has refused, saying coalition forces are more efficient.
Bush did not say how likely it was that weapons had been destroyed, rather than hidden and perhaps soon to be uncovered.
"One thing's for certain, Saddam Hussein no longer threatens America with weapons of mass destruction," he said.
Troops on the ground have searched more than 80 sites that prewar U.S. intelligence judged the most likely hiding places for chemical and biological weapons as well as evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program. After a recent strategy shift, teams are now setting aside the search list and deciding where to go more on the basis of new information from Iraqis.
Bush's remarks came at the end of a politically charged three-city visit to Ohio, one of a dozen or so states that will be closely contested in the 2004 presidential election. Bush hopes to convert his wartime popularity into successes in Congress — particularly with his troubled $726 billion economic package.
Bush hoped to pressure Ohio Sen. George Voinovich (news, bio, voting record), a Republican who derailed the White House tax package by refusing to back cuts of more than $350 billion.
Voinovich briefly greeted Bush at the airport in Dayton but he did not attend the president's speeches nor bow to White House demands.
"I think he knows where I'm at," the senator said of Bush.
The president made his disappointment clear.
"Some in Congress say the plan is too big. Well, it seems like to me they might have some explaining to do. If they agree that tax relief creates jobs, then why are they for a little bitty tax relief package?" Bush said.
Democrats said Bush's plan favors the rich and offers low- and middle-income Americans a few hundred dollars in savings.
"For people who need prescription drugs or health insurance, that's a drop in the bucket," Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (news, bio, voting record), D-Ohio, said.
While aides said it was not yet time to declare victory in Iraq, the president nearly jumped the gun.
"We fought a war in Afghanistan (news - web sites), and now we have finished a war," Bush said in North Canton before catching himself and adding, "in the process of finishing a war in Iraq."
Several administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expect commanding Gen. Tommy Franks to declare the hostilities over in a few days, paving the way for a presidential address as early as next week that would wrap up the war.
Separately, Bush plans to travel to Dearborn, Mich., on Monday to discuss the future of a newly liberated Iraq. The Detroit suburb is home to one of the nation's largest Arab communities.
While visiting the Lima plant, Bush put a positive spin on reports that some Iraqi factions do not welcome U.S. troops and that an Iranian-style theocracy may grow to power.
"In Iraq, there's discussion, debate, protest — all the hallmarks of liberty," Bush said. "The path to freedom may not always be neat and orderly, but it is the right of every person and every nation."
You're correct but again the question beg's the point: What is the definition of "is"?
The administration has left the impression that Saddam had vast quantiies of chemical and biological agents and an incipient nuclear weapons capabilities. Shame on them for going overboard in their UN presentations.
The truth will probably be that he had modest supplies of CBW's and was working feverishly to refine enough fissionable material for a demonstration weapon.
His pursuit of WMD programs was political, not military. Small quantities of each were sufficient to destabilize the US economy and make his regime mouse proof.
Like when he was asked how long the war was going to last(during the fighting). He would say "as long as it takes" and that may be awhile. He said this even while the tanks were going into Freedom Square. Guess he wasn't at the briefings then too.
You're kidding .. right?
Do you think Satelite surveilance works on cloudy days? Do you know how they were proven to have moved around TONS of chemicals after the first Gulf War? That the inspectors proved it?
I don't know what country you lived in during that time, but I saw the satelite evidence we had of them moving stuff around during that time. The Iraqi government did too. That they would then become more savvy at accomplishing these moves does not surprize me.
So I gotta ask this "Are you Scott Ritter?"
Because you sure sound like a Saddam apologist!! It must be very lonely living in your world right about now.
President Bush said: "He tried to fool the United Nations and did for 12 years by hiding these weapons. And so it's going to take time to find them," the president said at the Lima Army Tank Plant. "But we know he had them. And whether he destroyed them, moved them or hid them, we're going to find out the truth."
John Beresford Tipton, are you rich?
Exactly. Now, one must believe that Bush and his entire administrative team, along with Tony Blair, who is a liberal socialist at heart, were all willing to take this incredible chance at duping the world, and subject future generations of Americans to possible retaliation, just because they had bee up their ass about SH? Pull out the tinfoil.
At one point, we weren't "saying" it -- we knew it. And so did the UN.
Recall that the previous generation of weapons inspectors did indeed find and document "tons" of chemical weapons and "gallons" of biologicals. When Clinton pulled them out in November, 1998 (so he could "wag the dog" preceding impeachment), these weapons had not been destroyed.
And the documentation that Iraq furnished in response to #1448 contained no reference to these materials. Nor was any evidence of their destruction ever provided. They simply, and unaccountably, "vanished"...
So, we do know that there were WMD. And there is no evidence of their having been destroyed.
The question now is: what has become of them and who has them? What the question is not: did they ever exist?
I really want to agree with you. But, the president has nothing to gain and everything to lose if this is his strategy. If they have knowledge they're not sharing...the longer he waits to disclose the information, the more he allows his global critics to attack the veracity of the findings.
I'm beginning to think they won't find the WMD the president defined in his last SOUA.
All I can say is "crap".
Based on what I heard last weekend, that was nothing more than a staged event. All the "cheering Iraqis" in that video clip had been brought into Baghdad from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
U.S-Led Forces Occupy Baghdad Complex Filled With Chemical Agents
New York Times ^ | 4/24/2003 | JUDITH MILLER
Posted on 04/24/2003 10:42 AM CDT by ArcLight
American-led forces have occupied a vast warehouse complex in Baghdad filled with chemicals where Iraqi scientists are suspected of having tested unconventional agents on dogs within the past year, according to military officers and weapons experts.
The officers and experts declined to comment on the source of the information that led them to the warehouse, given the sensitivity of both the source and current operations.
Weapons experts and officers who have seen the warehouse said it was heavily looted before members of Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha and other allied forces seized and secured it. They described it as filled with broken parts and remnants of equipment consistent with a full-scale laboratory.
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