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]

"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"

I find that hard to believe.

[billbears]

Not whatever. Conservatives should be asking why? Why do we continue to accept excuse after excuse from this or any other administration for wars based on misleading intelligence? We were told WMDs were there and it was of utmost importance to get there and force Hussein out of power so he couldn't use them. They searched for months, Kay comes out and promises he may tell us something in September. US troops have caught almost all of the 'deck of cards' folks and still nothing.

Then all of the sudden, out of the blue, 'intelligence' reports tell us, 'oops, they were moved four months before the war but we just didn't know why all those transfer trucks were moving'? What did they think it was?!?

[Kieri]

What's chilling is just how close the Bekka Valley is to Israel. It's in the northwestern area of Lebanon, but its a LOT closer to Israel than Iraq!

"I will drive the northern army far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land,
with its front columns going into the eastern sea.
And its stench will go up;
it's smell will rise."
Surely he has done great things.

- The Lord's answer to to Israel
Joel 2:20

[BOBTHENAILER]

Bashir Assad has made the last mistake of his life.

Great Line.

[kidd]

[Adder]

Worse, Hezbollah will choose to use them in the next suicide belts they manufacture destined for Jerusalem.

[alpowolf]

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

"Suspects"? That inspires confidence. Well, I'm waiting to see if the govt will try to run with this one, and how they'll try to convince us that this time they're really sure.

[detsaoT]

Bekaa Valley has been a training ground and base-of-operations for terrorism for at least 30 years. I'd say that burning the whole dang valley to the ground would *not* be a bad thing, considering the fact that most of the residents of said valley are terrorist groups...

[rwfromkansas]

Won't work. We need to get the WMD's intact out of there.

[RoughDobermann]

What did they think it was?!?

There is actually (or at least before the war started) a tremendous amount of truck traffic between Iraq and Syria. If we could not verify that these trucks indeed carried Iraq's WMDs, would you have been okay with taking them out, four months before the shooting started?

[WL-law]

Sorry-- I posted the article the same time you did.

Yes, this is old news, but I believe it is correct.

Moving the WMDs before the war was consistent with Saddam's rope-a-dope strategy, which, let's not forget, almost worked (with the assistance of the Western Press, a.k.a. the "quagmire choir").

The rope-a-dope strategy meant Saddam couldn't use the WMDs (using = revealing their existence = justifying the invasion).

Saddam burying the WMDs was no different then burying his aircraft. He thought he could draw the U.S. in, then hit us with terrorist attacks, and sit back and wait for the leftists in the US and media to go after George Bush.

It was the best chance Saddam had.

[RoughDobermann]

Hezbollah will choose to use them in the next suicide belts they manufacture destined for Jerusalem

Good point. I'm sure that if this story is true, Jihad Johnnies would be lining up to be the first WMD homicide bomber...

[rwfromkansas]

Go to DU.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Is there ANY pile of crap you boys won't believe?

Face on Mars? Hitler still alive in Argentina? Mao swims Yellow River? Any thing at all?

[justshutupandtakeit]

BTW it took YEARS after the first war before any WMD were found. YEARS!!!

[justshutupandtakeit]

He couldn't make the intelligence grade there.

[cake_crumb]

"Why do we continue to accept excuse after excuse from this or any other administration for wars based on misleading intelligence?"

What excuses? I haven't heard any excuses. I've been for us going in from the get go, all of us here at FR believed and discussed in detail that Saddam had to be moving his weapons out of the country, just as he did his air force, that the Axiz of Weasels, all of which had huge financial stakes in Saddam's continued health and well being were buying him time, that the UN knew he had WMD and was covering for him to keep the Oil for Food cash rolling in, and also where he was likely to hide them.

This stuff was pretty much a given, especially considering satellite data of the bomb factories before and after dismantling by Saddam...obviously he wasn destroying the stuff.

That said this article could have been taken right from the threads on FR. I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[Alter Kaker]

Bekaa Valley? No problem. We will get them.