House Reopens Issue of Iraq's WMD

NY Sun ^ | Feb. 3, 2006 | ELI LAKE

[FairOpinion]

Nearly a year and a half after a final report from American weapons inspectors concluded they could not uncover evidence of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has reopened the question, launching an inquiry and asking the director of national intelligence to re-examine the issue.

Chairman Peter Hoekstra, a Republican from Michigan, is said by his staff to believe that it is too soon to conclude that Saddam Hussein either destroyed or never had the stockpiles and programs to produce biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons that Western intelligence agencies insisted he had before the war.

In the weeks before and following the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, at least 10 facilities believed by American, European, and Israeli intelligence to be for the production and research of chemical and biological weapons were systematically looted by members of Iraq's Republican Guard, ordered by the regime's leadership to destroy and hide evidence of the programs, according to current and former intelligence officials from America, Britain and Israel. In interviews with the New York Sun, these officials reflect the position of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in the months after the war: "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

The chairman of the House intelligence committee apparently has a similar view. "The chairman very much believes the issue of weapons of mass destruction is not settled yet and there are sufficient questions of organized looting, transfer to another country or party or things that may have been missed by the survey group. There are enough questions that need to be answered before anyone can say definitively what happened," a spokesman for Mr. Hoekstra, Jamal Ware, said yesterday.

[FairOpinion]

Cheers for Hoekstra and the House.

"Mr. Ware yesterday said Mr. Hoekstra is worried that equipment or stocks of biological and chemical weapons could have been transferred to a third country or landed in the hands of terrorists."

[SlowBoat407]

Ya think????

[FairOpinion]

"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

 -- Rumsfeld

[evad]

House Reopens Issue of Iraq's WMD

What's the issue?

Iraq had 'em.
Saddam sent 'em to Syria.
Syria's got 'em.

Now, what are we going to do about it??

[Lost Dutchman]

Not sure I like the idea of spending more of our money to revive an issue that isn't going to change any hearts and minds regardless of the findings.

[FairOpinion]

It is crucial to find out the truth, for future actions.

Suppose we will need to attack Iran, people have to have confidence that Bush was not lying or was mislead in the case of Iraq, as the Dems have been accusing him.

I think if it hadn't been for the chorus of liberals in the US attacking Bush over the WMD, we would have made much more progress Iraq and would have eliminated the terrorists by now. Liberals encouraged terrorists in Iraq, giving them hope that Bush may have to withdraw, so they kept hanging on and murdering people. Also, I think if it weren't for the anti-Iraq-war feeling the MSM and Dems whipped up, we may have already gone into Syria and Iran and wouldn't have to worry about them today.

[mnehring]

finally .. maybe the sada book woke some people up

[FairOpinion]

Note that the Dems are STILL attacking Bush over the WMD issue, that's another reason why we need to get the truth.


Oprah takes Bush to woodshed. Rips president over WMD fibs

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/8506/1/307

Feb. 4, 2006


(It's an Andy Borowitz satire, it didn't happen, but the point is that the Dems are still at it)

[WorkingClassFilth]

Agreed. There are men of good conscience and principle serving our nation in Washington as well as the Middle East.

[MizSterious]

Who says it won't change the hearts and minds? With the 'Rats, of course, there is no chance of change, even when presented with incontrovertable evidence. The 'Rats are in the minority, though. Bring on the evidence, and it's about time.

[MizSterious]

Sort of like the world's shortest song, "Fleas"--

Adam
Had 'em

We can change it to "WMDs"

Saddam
Had 'em

[Lost Dutchman]

I can understand the reasoning behind it. I just don't think it's going to change anything. The Dems have and will continue to state outright lies as facts.

i.e. 'Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who told The San Francisco Chronicle, "I'm still trying to find out why the president's Gestapo had to arrest Cindy Sheehan in the gallery."'

Any Rep. knows that the Capitol Police answer to Congress not the White House and even the President can only enter the Gallery on invitation.

The Dems, and the MSM will continue to lie and lie and hope that by repeating the lie loud enough and often enough it will become the "truth".

Libs have always been more interested in deeper truths instead of hard facts.

I just don't see this changing any minds regardless of the outcome.

[Soul Seeker]

This is good.

Count me as someone that wants to know what happened to weapons that DID/DO exist. If another country got them, we need them back. We don't need to discover their existence ina nuclear explosion. If they no longer exist? Why? Because I'm convinced they existed when we begun building to confront Saddam.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Good move. Get the Iraqi Air Force General to testify and let's see if the Lame Stream Elite Media covers it. WMD's moved to Syria.

[freema]

Hoekstra- a big OOOHRAH!!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I thought The Hildabeast already had this one figured out? *Smirk*

"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, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. 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. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security."

- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002

[sure_fine]

"Not sure I like the idea of spending more of our money to revive an issue that isn't going to change any hearts and minds regardless of the findings."



I would rather see this done than all of them deciding how many BILLIONs they want us to send to asia or africa

[pookie18]

Hoekstra to meet with Gen. Sada

[MassachusettsGOP]

Might as well fight 'em now, we'll be fighting them sooner or later anyway.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Obviously the Treason Media cannot control the story anymore and the existence of the Truth can no longer be totally hidden, obstructed, denied, distorted nor misrepresented without many voices saying "Ney".

Thousands of Buckheads are out there ready to shove their sh!T back down their lying throats.