WATCH: Iowa GOP Senate Candidate Still Believes There Were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq

Mother Jones ^ | May 12, 2014 | Patrick Caldwell, DC Bureau Reporter

[2ndDivisionVet]

War veteran Joni Ernst claims to have vague, secret knowledge that contradicts every public report.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

Iowa state senator and US Senate candidate Joni Ernst captured national attention when her campaign's first TV ad featured the candidate talking about castrating hogs (a subsequent ad featured Ernst at a gun range, implying that she'd shoot Obamacare to bits). But if the Sarah Palin-approved Republican wants to enter national politics, she may need to brush up on some of her facts. Ernst still thinks Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction when the US invaded Iraq, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

On Friday, Ernst sat down with the Des Moines Register's editorial board for a wide-ranging interview. Ernst served in the Iraq War in 2003, "running convoys through Kuwait and into southern Iraq" according to her campaign website. She defended that war during the interview, saying that the intelligence at the time offered compelling reason to displace Saddam. "Obviously the president thought there was actionable intelligence, she said, "so as an Iraqi War veteran I stand beside that and I'll stand beside every other soldier I served with in believing we were on a clearly defined mission to go into Iraq." (Her response in the video above starts at the 23:20 mark.)

Why is Ernst so willing to support Bush's decision to invade? She hints that she has inside knowledge that there were, indeed, still weapons of mass destruction when the war began. "We don't know that there were weapons on the ground when we went in," she said, "however, I do have reason to believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." When a Register reporter quizzed her on what information she has, Ernst said "my husband served in Saudi Arabia as the Army Central Command sergeant major for a year and that's a hot-button topic in that area."

Of course, US troops never managed to find any such weapons after the invasion. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld have all conceded that the initial intelligence was flawed.

When asked for clarification, a spokesperson for Ernst's campaign narrowly walked back her comments over e-mail: "Her point was that we know for a fact that Iraq had chemical weapons in the past, and had even used them. We also know none were found while our troops were on the ground, despite the intelligence at the time. What happened to those weapons she doesn't know."

Ernst currently holds a slight lead in the polls in advance of the June 3 primary. If she managed to win the general election—Democrat Bruce Braley is the front-runner for the open seat—Ernst would be the first woman elected to federal office from Iowa.

[Wuli]

they were shipped off to Syria, Libya and Russia while the U.N. and the U.S. Congress dickered over a resolutions supporting military action if Saddam did not officially account for them and turn them over

Saddam fully expected, with the help of the American Left, to make Iraq another “Vietnam”, return to power and get his WMD materials back from his friends.

I suspect some of what the U.S. got from Gaddafi began its WMD life in Iraq as is the case with Syria as well, and some I suspect Russia still has.

[Kickass Conservative]

If President Bush KNEW there were no WMD’s in Iraq, we would have found them the first day of the War.

My standard line to a Liberal who blurts out the old Bush Lied, People Died meme.

[clearcarbon]

"The left keeps on saying there were no WMD’s in Iraq..so I have a simple question for leftists..where did Assad get those same weapons that he has been using on his own people..did they come out of his butt?"

Why does it seem now like Iraq was the only middle east country that didn't have WMDs?

[Durus]

Then there are the hundreds of tons of yellow cake uranium they found.

Not to mention the military assets they had hidden like fighter jets.

Not to mention the munitions they used to make roadside bombs to kill Our people for years.

[muir_redwoods]

There were 30,000 Kurds who might have had an opinion supporting hers.

[FreeAtlanta]

These no wmd folks are bat squeeze crazy.

Only a lemming would honestly believe Saddam either didn’t have wmds or was really trying to get everyone to believe he had them via violating all the UN resolutions against him.

What is to be gained by their continual denial that there was chemical and biological weapons in Iraq and they were trying to get nuclear weapons?

I guess they can neuter future attempts to control those weapons.

[SgtHooper]

Hypocrisy by the left is the new normal for them.

[Intolerant in NJ]

At 76 years of age, I’ve been watching ‘rats for a long, long time - trust me, it’s their old normal.....

[Din Maker]

DAMN! When did FR Moderators start allowing Articles from that Liberal, Left-wing “MOTHER JONES” yellow journalism rag? Holy Shit Batman!!!

I watched the video. Joni handled it perfectly. Anyone who has half a brain knows that Saddam Hussein DID have weapons of mass destruction. Good thing nobody has a paid subscription to “MOTHER JONES” except fags, lesbians, child molesters and Registered Sex Offenders.

[entropy12]

Chemical Ali had already used chemical weapons for mass killings of opposing factions in Iraq.

So it is never a question of if, it is is only a question of what happened to them.

[Sam Gamgee]

The left hasn’t had a narrative so dominated since it’s Pinochet and Allende.