Posted on 02/22/2006 11:40:16 AM PST by pissant
WASHINGTON - Ever since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration has come under heavy criticism for its inability to find Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.
Now some experts are saying that those WMDs did exist, but that they are not in Iraq anymore.
The 2006 Intelligence Summit, a three-day event held this weekend outside Washington, D.C., featured a who's-who of counter-terrorism and national security experts. One of them, Bill Tierney, worked as a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq.
On Saturday, he provided translations of tapes featuring Hussein and other high-ranking Iraqi officials discussing Iraq’s secret WMD program.
In one of the tapes, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said that a biological weapons attack would be the easiest to arrange, and that "anyone could do it. They wouldn't finger us." In another tape, recorded in 2000, an aide tells Hussein that a factory had been built to produce plasma. Plasma is used in making nuclear weapons.
The tapes were recorded during the mid-1990s and later, showing, Tierney says, that despite the damage inflicted on his regime by Operation Desert Storm and U.N. sanctions, Hussein continued to pursue an illicit WMD program, with a little help from his friends.
“Saddam and Tariq Aziz are on tape talking about France and Russia helping them. C'mon, it's time to stop being the world's sucker,” Tierney remarked.
According to experts at the summit, Russia not only helped Iraq build its wmd capabilities, it even helped Saddam dispose of them. Jack Shaw, a former top Pentagon official who tracked Iraq's weapons programs, revealed for the first time his view that Russian Special Forces Units helped move Iraq's wmds to Syria and Lebanon, prior to the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Shaw said, “The short answer to the question of where the WMDs Saddam bought from the Russians went, was that they went to Syria and Lebanon, along with the most powerful explosives in Saddam's arsenal.”
They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz units, out of uniform, which were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence.
Yossef Bodansky agrees. Bodansky is the former director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism, and author of The Secret History of the Iraq War.
“The major case where the Russians were involved was the evacuation of the forces--the entire Iraqi arsenal,” said Bodansky, “not just WMD, but also artillery pieces, tanks, troops, etc., that were arrayed for the defense of Baghdad, once Saddam Hussein realized that the game was all over.”
Bodansky says that the Bush administration knows that Hussein's WMDs are in Syria but doesn't want to open another front in the war on terror. Still, why not use this information to answer Howard Dean and other critics, who insist that Hussein had no WMDs?
Retired General Thomas McInerney, a Fox News military analyst, says that one reason could be that the administration wants Russia's help in the war on terror.
McInerney said, “Why would you put your quote ‘allies’ in an awkward position in the war on terror? I think that's probably why this has not been pursued.”
From a political point of view, it is probably a mistake. From a diplomatic point of view and going forward, it probably is not.
One expert told CBN News that thousands of more hours of Hussein's secret tapes may still be unaccounted for. And with them, perhaps, the answer to what really happened to Iraq's elusive WMDs.
Ping aling.
The WMD's are in Syria or Lebanon. We know it, the Russians know it the Syrians know it. They are buried and accounted for. Because it is easier to have them where we can monitor them instead of the potential for Saddam to give them to terrorists to use worldwide.
We knew the UN was worthless with monitoring Saddams WMD's. Politically it was irrelevant to Bush because Americans who understand know that Saddam had ties to terrorist groups. Plus Bush knows that the minute he says, "we found the WMD", the RATs are going to have a field day scaring Americans by saying, "how do we know we have them all?"
Actually, many of us were saying this at the time.
Remember the mysterious Iraqi cargo ships wandering around the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom?
it gets what it deserves. I don't hear too many people piping the "Bush Lied" mantra these days, not since Cindy Sheehan pretty much made that phrase something of a registered trademark.
In case we bomb Syria, having them hidden in the Presidential Palace would be a good thing.
But not Dubai. Definitely not Dubai.
What happened to those ships. It was a big story for like 2 days, then poof, it was gone.
Lets hope it comes out right before the election. Lots of liberals committed themselves. Would be very entertaining to see them all try to backtrack.
> In another tape, recorded in 2000, an aide tells Hussein that a factory had been built to produce plasma. Plasma is used in making nuclear weapons.
Uhhh.... what?
Something ain't right here...
It was a report from the Intel conference, not Pat Robertson's editorial. As much as I am no fan of Pat, his publications reporting is more accurate than the MSM.
Thanks Peach! I was just going through the PP presentation at the Intelligence Summit site and Saddam and Tariq were talking about clearing Brazil from helping them "Brazil? We have nothing to do with them"... it sounds like it wasn't just France and Russia that were helping the Iraqis.
Scary stuff. Especially the part where Saddam says "it's too bad (conflict ended?) ... they would've found (the missiles) on the Israeli heads".
She should also trademark her image of herself on her knees in fron of Hugo Chavez.
It is sad but to believe that the president of the United States did not lie, makes you a kook by most MSM standards.
Lotsa liberals will need to be committed!
Is that like Dr. Evil's Megma?
Thank you so much for your attention to this, cgk. I heard something about Brazil with regard to this matter the other day and can't remember what it was.
Something about Brazil going to become a nuclear power soon, I think.
Maybe so. Or maybe you have not been paying attention to the other multitude of stories regarding the same subject.
Yeah, well I think if the libs were smart they would start saying, "Bush was right, but is STILL not telling us what the hell the real story is."
To me, his silence is sucking out any joy of proving the libs wrong. I understand why he's doing it, but I really think it will end up being a negative in the long run.
Retired General Thomas McInerney, a Fox News military analyst, says that one reason could be that the administration wants Russia's help in the war on terror. McInerney said, “Why would you put your quote ‘allies’ in an awkward position in the war on terror? I think that's probably why this has not been pursued.”
Yes, General that's it. I tell you, if this group can get a couple of more retired 'military' to join the cause they'll be up to par with the UFO true believers' numbers....
Hasn't the general heard? WMDs is a couple of excuses back. The reasoning has moved on to 'spreading democracy', purple fingers and all. Although from some of the latest stories, it seems the administration may be dropping that cause as the excuse as well.
Carry on...
If I could figure out what you're saying, and why you think it's Pat Robertson's group who is promoting this story, I'd respond.
I'll proudly be labelled a kook by the MSM, since they are going down the tubes fast anyway.
The 'Bush lied' deal won't die. They'll just move the markers. The fact that the WMD's are in Syria or Timbuktu will be an excuse to wave them away as of no account. Saddam wasn't personally mixing ebola or anthrax when we started bombing, so WMD's don't count.
Bush is playing poker with amateurs, IMO.
Or the Washington Times, or National Review, or the WSJ, or Human Events, or The Weekly Standard, or CNS, etc, etc.
They already stopped using it except for the far left kooks. And they know damn well what's coming so they are likely strategizing about what you predict.
In the context of this article, this makes no sense whatsoever.
On one hand, Russia relocated WMDs to a terrorist nation. But according to McInerny, we don't want to point the finger at Russia, because we want their help to fight terrorists.
Specifically, the NIE assessed that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program and could assemble a device by the end of the decade; that Iraq had biological weapons and mobile facilities for producing biological warfare (BW) agent; that Iraq had both renewed production of chemical weapons, and probably had chemical weapons stockpiles of up to 500 metric tons; and that Iraq was developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) probably intended to deliver BW agent.
These assessments were all wrong.
--Report to the President of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, page 45, March 31, 2005
Give up the ghost...there were no WMD
I don't believe that for one second. Just the fact that we found nuclear components in a guys garden should tell you this tyrant was hiding something.
You can believe the dems if you want to.
And what are those weapons doing at this moment? Probably not being used to fill the bottoms of portable basketball goals.
Yep, same. All right of center organizations that can't hold a candle to the accuracy of the NY TImes and CNN, right?
Played with subtle and intelligent skill, "Bush Lied" could be the last mournful whisper to cross the lips of a dying Democrat Party.
Rove....get this one right!
But go ahead. Post the links from Weekly Standard, National Review, etc. Even some of them have dropped the talk from their current talking points
Heck even Colin Powell knew that many went to Syria - he even briefed it at the U.N. This is not a new story, it's an old story that is crawling back out of the ground despite the MSM's attempts to bury it. The truth has a way of surfacing.
I guess you don't remember Colin Powell showing satellite video of convoys leaving known Iraqi WMD sites for the Syrian border. And other evidence and people coming forward saying the same thing.
If you'd prefer to think that every intelligence service on the face of the planet was wrong, that's up to you.
I hope so. I admit, I am being selfish. I want really bad to take every lib I know by the lapels, and say, "See, I told you so, you stupid #$^&*@#$$@&%&.!!!!"
Yep. They're going to start enriching uranium. Brazil poised to join the world's nuclear elite
And you're welcome. When things get under my skin, I tend to keep scratching. ;)
Thanks for that link, cgk.
I can imagine some agreement to that type. We won't publicly humiliate Russia as saddam's bed buddy, if they help us in the broader WOT.
Who knows. Most are probably in pretty crappy condition by now.
Exactly, if played right
Right, and nobody was ever killed by weaponized anthrax here in America, and in a few more years we'll probably be told that 9/11 didn't really happen either.
You mean "re-committed."
Thats for certain. A typical conversation that I've had:
Liberal: Bush lied about WMDs. No WMDs have been found.
Response: Dozens of 55 gallon drums of precursor material were found in camoflauged bunkers near military installations during the initial invasion of Iraq.
Liberal: Those were pesticides. No ready-to-use WMDs have been found.
Response: The Poles found a dozen cartridges with Mustard gas. An IED exploded last year had Sarin.
Liberal: Those were old weapons and they weren't a significant threat. No new ready-to-use WMDs were found that could kill a lot of people.
Response: There was enough Sarin for 8 million lethal doses in that single canister.
Liberal: But we haven't found a lot of such devices. No large stockpiles of new, lethal, well-labelled ,ready-to-use WMDs were found.
Response: Several hundred tons of partially-enriched uranium was removed from Iraq recently.
Liberal: Ready-to-use weapons grade?
Response: Enrichment equipment and plans have been found buried in the yards of important Iraqii scientists.
Liberal: See? Not ready to use. Bush lied.
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