Iran has large numbers of chemical weapons, used chemical weapons against Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died in that war, and the Persians and Arabs have fought continuously for about 3,000 years.
People are really twisting themselves into pretzels trying to turn the presence of a chemical decontamination unit, a type of unit common in militaries throughout the world that don't have any chemical weapons and don't really have obvious enemies, into something more than it is.
Please establish for me how you came to the conclusion this is only a defensive decontamination unit. Then please show me when and where this entity was declared as demanded under multiple resolutions.
The only thing that would make this unit legit is IF it was declared. Do you know the answer to wether it was or not? If not then I suppose I could turn your own words back on you and say that you are twisting yourself into a pretzel trying to turn the presence of this entity into something valid.
You are giving Saddam the benfit of the doubt. It is fine for you to do so but I ask why it is he deserves that benefit from you.
The key here is wether or not this was declared. That is the question to ask that, when answered, will show what this really was.
Per the UN resolutions everything that was remotely related to Chemical was forbidden in Iraq, offensive or defensive it does not matter. This Chemical Platoon in 2001 was simply illegal.
I don't see how I'm making a stretch at all. Assuming the presence of chemical gear doesn't by itself prove that Saddam had WMD plans, look at what else we know as fact. We know Saddam has used chemical weapons previously. We know that, at some point, he had them stockpiled. We know further that, according to Hans Blix, Iraq had chem/bio material that was unaccounted for. Given that scenario, the presence of chemical gear doesn't look so innocent.
Even if this was just a ruse by Saddam to fool people into thinking he had chemical and biological weapons, he fooled the wrong people, namely, the U.S. and Great Britain.
"People are really twisting themselves into pretzels trying to turn the presence of a chemical decontamination unit, a type of unit common in militaries throughout the world that don't have any chemical weapons and don't really have obvious enemies, into something more than it is."
This document is dated Feb 2003. Several years after the end of the Iraq-Iran war, and just over a month before we went to throw Saddam and his regime out of power.
Also, the document reminds the reader that the price is related to the quantity purchased, yet these were only ordered for the portion of the Iraqi military that handles chemical weapons? If they were for defensive purposes, they would be thinking the opponents (US and coalition forces) would be using them and they would have purchased for all of their military, not just this one group.
I think you are making presumptions based on other nations, and the facts related to those other nations, and ignoring the facts in this case.