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.

[O Neill]

CBS Evening News viewers were in a tizzy for answers to the WMD question. This story gives Mr. Rather something to feed them, giving the impression that jounalistic digging has, at last, produced a result that (a) makes the CIA look bad; (b) gives Rather something to talk about; and (c) provides plausible deniability for President Bush (who knows the TRUE intelligence regarding WMD whereabouts)...

...which is actually under the Normandy graveyards in France.

Should I watch the CBS Evening News?

I'd rather not.

[cake_crumb]

"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..."

I'd agree. We've got enough good reasons to whack Lebanon already without having to manufacture any.

[lepton]

As if we all couldn't see this latest excuse for not producing a single WMD coming from a mile away.

Even the ones Iraq admitted to having...

[rmgatto]

Why don't you quit yer whining and join the human shield corps--gratuitous, teenage girl punctuation notwithstanding!?!! Your lack of depth is astonishing. Speaking of decks, your argumentative technique suggests the dealer shorted you several high cards.

[Montfort]

"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."

And it still may work, if the past is any guide to the future. The only reason I think the libs and Saddam may not succeed this time is that the libs no longer have a monopoly on the media that shape public opinion in the US. If we had had Rush Limbaugh and Fox News during Vietnam, who knows, we might have actually won that one.

[eyespysomething]

roflmao. I haven't even *thought* about him. lololol I need to call the Mr.

[Delbert]

The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time. <---What The F@@K?!!!

[RoughDobermann]

These agents aren't exactly easy to work with.

Depends on which agents (or material) we're talking about. Biological? Yes, typically very difficult. But, IIRC, some chemical agents are binary compounds that are relatively safe until combined. Also, if the article is true and WMDs have been transported and delivered, then they are obviously well-packaged, considering none have been released. Place bomb next to container and detonate = nice dirty bomb.

[billbears]

Wow, personal insults and not a whit about the facts. Found any WMDs yet have they? Besides the bag of beans and a 12 year old centrifuge?

[RoughDobermann]

Found any WMDs yet have they?

I relatively sure that Saddam Hussein existed, but they haven't found him yet either. Does that mean he doesn't exist?

[billbears]

Why because I refuse to believe the administration without factual evidence? Because I don't believe Hussein was ever a direct and immediate threat to the safety of these United States? Iraq wasn't a threat. The 'ally' that supplied 15 of the 19 terrorists and still to this day supports terrorism worldwide, now that's a different story

[Lynn]

Yeah and this get's recently reported on Drudge when haven't many of us been saying this all along?

[RoughDobermann]

And what if the container was carrying radioactive material? Either way, I'll digress to your knowledge.

[cajungirl]

you may be right but the war may come to us whether we like it or not especially if we appear weak. I don't think it is over by a long shot.

[Republican Red]

After listening to David Kaye recently, even most Democrats have stopped the "where are the WMD" whine. I have read that the Kaye report will be quite astounding. We will all be informed soon I hope.

Is World Tribune reputable? I always thought that World Tribune was on par with DEBKA

[lepton]

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

What misleading intelligence? First, we haven't found the stuff that Iraq admitted to having. Second we gave them six months of explicit warning that we were going in to find them. If you add up all of the stuff that Powell said that they had, you could fit it into two large tanker-trucks, or dispersed into 55 gallon drums, two guys and a Cargo van could move it *all* by hand to any point in Iraq (or Syria) with only one trip a day in less than 100 days. The worst case of "misleading intelligence" is with the yellow-cake, where the reason for considering it "not reliable" is because part of the CIA figured that Iraq had already bought as much as they need from Niger, and didn't need any more.

[billbears]

I relatively sure that Saddam Hussein existed, but they haven't found him yet either. Does that mean he doesn't exist?

I'm quite sure Hussein existed, from the footage, but I don't remember seeing footage of 30,000 munitions or thousands of tons of WMDs either. I accept God by faith, everyone else has to supply evidence

[Peach]

I don't see us going after another country militarily for a long time. If those WMD aren't in Iraq, we're in trouble.