Mylroie: "..the source of the near-universal belief that Iraq had WMD

Robert Kagan [link below] reminds us of the origin of the view that Iraq retained large quantities of weapons proscribed by UNSCR 687, the formal cease-fire to the 1991 Gulf War.

Following that war, it was long believed that the bulk of Iraq's WMD was destroyed in the month-long bombing campaign that began the U.S.-led assault to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. It was further assumed that the UN weapons inspectors, UNSCOM, were merely mopping up what remained.

But in August 1995, as Iraq was pressing UNSCOM to declare its work done, and even threatening to expel the inspectors, Saddam's son-in-law, Hussein Kamil, who had been in charge of Iraq's weapons programs, defected to Jordan. The Iraqis panicked and told Rolf Ekeus, the chairman of UNSCOM, that he should visit Baghdad first, before meeting with Kamil. They were afraid of what Kamil might say and wanted to control the flow of information.

Ekeus played skillfully on the Iraqis' fears, and they acknowledged that all their proscribed programs were larger and more sophisticated than they had previously admitted. Yet all the material they now admitted to having had or produced, they claimed to have destroyed on their own (UNSCR 687 called for UNSCOM to supervise the destruction of such material).

UNSCOM asked the Iraqis to support that claim, whether by providing documents or witnesses who could describe the purported destruction. The Iraqis produced neither and in the fall of 1997, initiated a series of crises that had the effect of undermining support for UNSCOM. A year later, in December 1998, UNSCOM left Iraq in advance of a four day US/UK bombing campaign (Operation Desert Fox), and weapons inspectors never returned until late 2002.

This is the source of the near-universal belief that Iraq had such weapons--not shadowy defectors, nor rogue reporters. Moreover, the possibility remains that Iraq did have such weapons (or their immediate precursors) and destroyed, hid, and/or moved them on the eve of this war and that the subsequent investigation simply has not been done all that well. ~ Laurie Mylroie

It Wasn't Just Miller's Story --- By Robert Kagan Tuesday, October 25, 2005; A21

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401405.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

The Judith Miller-Valerie Plame-Scooter Libby imbroglio is being reduced to a simple narrative about the origins of the Iraq war. ...."

There is a big problem with this simple narrative. It is that the Times, along with The Post and other news organizations, ran many alarming stories about Iraq's weapons programs before the election of George W. Bush. A quick search through the Times archives before 2001 produces such headlines as "Iraq Has Network of Outside Help on Arms, Experts Say"(November 1998), "U.S. Says Iraq Aided Production of Chemical Weapons in Sudan"(August 1998), "Iraq Suspected of Secret Germ War Effort" (February 2000), "Signs of Iraqi Arms Buildup Bedevil U.S. Administration" (February 2000), "Flight Tests Show Iraq Has Resumed a Missile Program" (July 2000). ..."

Many such stories appeared before and after the Clinton administration bombed Iraq for four days in late 1998 in what it insisted was an effort to degrade Iraqi weapons programs. ..."

This was the consensus before Bush took office, before Scooter Libby assumed his post and before Judith Miller did most of the reporting for which she is now, uniquely, criticized. It was based on reporting by a large of number of journalists who in turn based their stories on the judgments of international intelligence analysts, Clinton officials and weapons inspectors. As we wage what the Times now calls "the continuing battle over the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq," we will have to grapple with the stubborn fact that the underlying rationale for the war was already in place when this administration arrived. ..."

Yeah...these people are frauds. Heck, it was just days after Bush's 2001 Inauguration that the NY Times, with the help of William Cohen (Clinton's Sec. of Defense) were writing stories "warning" the incoming Bush administration of the danger we faced from a rearming Saddam Hussein. Under the 1/22/01 headlines, the NYT's reported via Cohen that "Iraq Resumes WMD Activities," as their own reporters, Eric Schmitt and Steven Meyers, reported that "Iraq Rebuilt Weapons Factories."

These stories concluded that:

"While officials have previously disclosed that Iraq had rebuilt missile plants destroyed in the 1998 strikes, the Jan. 10 report released by Mr. Cohen was the first public acknowledgment of the resumption of work at suspected chemical and biological plants....Some of Iraq's facilities could be converted fairly quickly to production of chemical weapons," the report said at one point. It went on to warn, "Iraq retains the expertise, once a decision is made, to resume chemical agent production within a few weeks or months, depending on the type of agent."

Newsweek magazine ran an article in its January 11, 1999, issue headed, "Saddam + Bin Laden?" "Here's what is known so far:"

"Saddam Hussein, who has a long record of supporting terrorism, is trying to rebuild his intelligence network overseas--assets that would allow him to establish a terrorism network. U.S. sources say he is reaching out to Islamic terrorists, including some who may be linked to Osama bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi exile accused of masterminding the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa last summer."

On January 15, 1999, ABC News reported that three intelligence agencies believed that Saddam had offered asylum to bin Laden:

"Intelligence sources say bin Laden's long relationship with the Iraqis began as he helped Sudan's fundamentalist government in their efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. ABC News has learned that in December, an Iraqi intelligence chief named Faruq Hijazi, now Iraq's ambassador to Turkey, made a secret trip to Afghanistan to meet with bin Laden. Three intelligence agencies tell ABC News they cannot be certain what was discussed, but almost certainly, they say, bin Laden has been told he would be welcome in Baghdad."

NPR reporter Mike Shuster interviewed Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center, and offered this report:

"Iraq's contacts with bin Laden go back some years, to at least 1994, when, according to one U.S. government source, Hijazi met him when bin Laden lived in Sudan." According to Cannistraro, Iraq invited bin Laden to live in Baghdad to be nearer to potential targets of terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

By mid-February 1999, journalists did not even feel the need to qualify the claims about WMDs and an Iraq-al Qaeda relationship. An Associated Press dispatch that ran in the Washington Post ended this way:

"The Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who openly supports Iraq against Western powers." Where did journalists get the idea that Saddam and bin Laden might be coordinating efforts? Among other places, from high-ranking Clinton administration officials. In the spring of 1998--well before the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa--the Clinton administration indicted Osama bin Laden. The indictment, unsealed a few months later, prominently cited al Qaeda's agreement to 'collaborate with Iraq and Saddam on weapons of mass destruction'..."

What makes this even more relevant WRT Wilson and his Niger claims is that Saddam already possessed 500 tons of Uranium long before we even went into Iraq. Not only has the media ignored this story, they didn't seem to have any questions about where Saddam may have procured it. The fact that they took Wilson's claims at face value, when he even acknowledged that Niger was approached by Saddam's reps in 1999 to seal a deal, indicates they have no need for the truth. The fact that Niger would deny any deal with Saddam seems to only come as a surprise to Wilson (and his media brethren)...since such an admission would've been a clear violation of International Law and UN sanctions.

From the Kay and Duelfer(sp) Reports on WMDs to the Butler and Senate Intel Reports (discrediting Joe Wilson)....and even the 9/11 Commission Report, the media has either ignored or totally misprepresented the facts in each of these investigations to advance the Democrats anti-Bush agenda. And they have played these political games at the cost of endangering our soldiers lives and the lives of each and every one of us. This is no longer just a biased media; they have become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat party, using the power of the press and their 1st Amendment privledges (and Shield Laws) to advance an agenda that we couldn't legally do without violating some law.

Yrs: "What else was in that endless stream of trucks heading for Syria as the war began?
Saddam's money??"

Yes and those trucks were mostly Russian, carrying goods
from France, Russia, and Germany, AND they did not want the world to know thay had traded ARMS for OIL, as well as WMD research items! The egg on their faces would have resulted in UN sanctions against them.

That is why Saddam Hussein did NOT want UN weapons inspectors in certain sites. Because of the slow build up to the war, and the ultimatum process, the Iraqi's Russians, French and Germans managed to get most of it out. What was not removed was destroyed befor US forces could secure it.

Remember that dozens of unused late generation French Surface to Air missles greeted US Marines when they took Bagdad Airport. That was only the tip of the iceberg, and they were supposed to have been used to slow down the US to allow for more time to get out WMD research materials and equipment. The French Russian and Germans didn't need more time, and the anti aircraft missles were left unfired, and the Iraqui army was smart enough NOT to use them.

Our President knows all this, and the reason he can't tell us is that he needs to maintain relations with France, Russia, Germany and the United Nations, or else he would be facing our former allies with demands to explain why they had perpetrated " Acts of War" against the UN and the United States of America. Also remember that France, Russia , and Germany did everything they could to slow the USA down in moving to a war footing in Iraq. It worked.

Here are a few quotes from the MSM before Bush was elected:

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
- President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
- President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
- Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of an ilicit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
- Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
-Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime...He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation...And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction...So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real."
-Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

So the democrats say President Bush lied, that there never were any weapons of mass destruction and he took us to war for his oil buddies? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........................

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