Report: U.S suspects Iraqi WMD in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

Drudge via World Tribune ^ | Monday, August 25, 2003

[RoughDobermann]

U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have finally been located.

Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States and its allies, because the containers with the strategic materials are not in Iraq.

Instead they are located in Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley, swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces, and Hizbullah and ex-Iraqi agents, Geostrategy-Direct.com will report in tomorrow's new weekly edition.

U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebaon in January 2003. The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time.

U.S. intelligence sources believe the area contains extended-range Scud-based missiles and parts for chemical and biological warheads.

Mutually-lucrative Iraqi-Syrian arms transactions are nothing new. Firas Tlas, son of Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas, has been the key to Syria's rogue alliance with Iraq. He and Assad made hundreds of millions of dollars selling weapons, oil and drugs to and from Iraq, according to the May 13, 2003 edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.

The CIA now believes a multi-million dollar deal between Iraq and Syria provided for the hiding and safekeeping of Saddam's strategic weapons.

Not surprisingly, U.S. inquiries in Beirut and Syria are being met with little substantive response, U.S. officials said.

[cake_crumb]

Stupid of them to target those who opted out of the war on terror.

[familyofman]

How convenient - we think we know where they are (WMD), but we can't get to them. See they're there, just have to beleive me on this.
Can't disprove the WMD exist because you can't get to where they are either.
Gotta have better proof than this.

[ASA Vet]

MOAB bump

Is there a reason for your serious under reaction?

[cake_crumb]

"They had an affirmative duty to fully account for the WMDs that they had admitted to having. The United States did not have that duty, the IRAQIS did. They did not do so"

Thus violating the conditions of the cease fire. If we hadn't finally ended the 12 year charade, who would have?

[RoughDobermann]

So what can we learn from this? Chemical weapons programs bad, get invaded. Nuclear weapons programs good, get food?

No. For accuracy, I'd say the following is true: Violate a cease fire agreement, get invaded. Containment of a country developing nuclear weapons, good.

[Republican Red]

People this is WORLD TRIBUNE reporting this. (The same source that reported Osama's capture in May). If it had been posted only at FR it would be outed as a scam. Since Drudge picked it up it is being treated as legitimate.

Instead they are located in Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley, swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces, and Hizbullah and ex-Iraqi agents, Geostrategy-Direct.com will report in Wednesday's new weekly edition.

Sounds to me like they are trying to sell Wednesday's edition. Geostrategy-Direct.com looks like it is apart of World Tribune.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_1.html

[RoughDobermann]

Gotta have better proof than this.

In order to justify what?

[Pubbie]

If Saddam didn't have WMDs then why was he doing paying millions of dollars every year to OVER 2,000 WMD scientists???

[Coop]

U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebaon in January 2003. The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time.

Well, this sentence tells me the entire article is garbage. A stream of tractor-trailer trucks in Jan 03 wouldn't tip off the CIA? Puh-leeze!

[alpowolf]

Blair claimed that an attack could be made within 45 minutes of the order being given. As such they could not have been too deeply hidden if this were true.

[cake_crumb]

"I accept God by faith, everyone else has to supply evidence"

SHOULD HAVE BEEN

"Actually, it is one of the chief wine producing areas of Lebanon"

Then of course, the statement about that probably being where the raisons for the homocide bombers coming from might have made some sense.

Sorry
i can't believe i did that...

[cake_crumb]

"Sounds to me like they are trying to sell Wednesday's edition. Geostrategy-Direct.com looks like it is apart of World Tribune."

THAT figures.

[cookcounty]

Is Hizbollah getting NERVOUS?

Suddenly a stirring of activity today regarding prisoners they previously denied having.... some "german mediator" trying to work things out......hmmmmm.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Yes, if we're attacked. Otherwise, no new military campaigns.

[O Neill]

...need to study my geography...

Wouldn't you know it...there are many caves in the area...

In Neogene, intensive orogenic movement accompanied by folding and faulting began, and the Rift Valley was repeatedly thrust down. Therefore, the Bekka Valley was filled with deposit from many small rivers which flowed from the rising Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains. On the other hand, transgression occurred in the Mediterranean coastal region in the Miocene and Pliocene, and limestone of 300 to 400 m in thickness was deposited, forming Karst plateau at Ras ech Chaqaa area near Tripoli. Towards the end of the Pliocene this area became approximately like its present topography. The most characteristic thing in the Pleistocene was the activity of volcanoes, and there was basalt flow at Jebel ed Drouz in Syria. In the above-mentioned vicinity of the border to Palestine, where the bottom of Rift Valley rises sharply, such a basalt flow is also seen.

As a result of the change in the sea level, typical marine terraces have developed along the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon and Syria. They can be roughly divided into 3 or 4 terraces which were studied by DE VAUMAS (1954), FLEISCH (1956, 1962), BUTZER (1958), H. E. WRIGHT (1962), etc., and are correlated with the marine terraces in southern Italy. However, opinions are still not unanimous. The group of caves containing prehistoric remains, which is closely related to our present research, is distributed near the coast. The caves are from north to south, Ras Lados, Abou Halka, caves near Enfe, Es Stouh, Asfurieh, Ras el Kelb, Adioun caves, etc. These cave sites are situated about 10 to 15 m above sea level, and from a topographical view-point, such caves or shelters were formed by the erosion of the sea during the period when the sea level was stable for a certain period. Therefore, by doing careful research on these prehistoric sites, there is the great possibility of determining their relationship with the marine terraces, in other word, their geological age.

And...the "Anti-Lebanon" Mountains? Guess they were hard-up for names....

[billbears]

Hey Asshole! If it was wrong to ally ourselves with Saddam in the 80's in his war against Iran (Which killed 200 Marines in Lebanon in '82), then by your logic, it was also wrong to ally ourselves with Stalin after Hitler invaded Russia in 1941.

I fail to even begin to see the comparisons between the two events. Nice name calling BTW

[MHGinTN]

Some citizens think they're so important that they will not believe what the democraps instruct them to disbelieve until someone in the administration takes them by the hand and leads them directly to the physical evidence and has them hold it in their hands ... and ones like billbears will then ask, "Who made these fakes designed to trick the honest citizenry? Can we trust an administration that would forge materials?"

[TUX]

Saddam did us a favor sending all his bad stuff to others. Think of the lives lost in a full scale bio-chem attack on our troops.

Now we can dispose of the stuff at our leisure or have Israel deal with it. Now we know what the trip by Powell to Syria was all about, and the frenchie visits earlier.

Assad has his tits in a wringer.