Posted on 07/20/2006 9:34:26 AM PDT by WL-law
We Freepers have long and often speculated about the whereabouts of Saddam’s missing WMDs, and the frequently-opined location is “somewhere in the Bekaa Valley” in either Syria or Syrian-controlled Lebanon.
The obvious reason to move them “somewhere” was to avoid detection in the face of the pending US invasion, in order to deny their existence and to preserve them for another day and another time. But why the Bekaa?
Syria controlled the Bekaa, and Syria maintained strategic relationships with both Saddam and Iran. It seems unlikely that Saddam would have put his WMDs in the hands of Iran’s proxies directly, but Syria would have provided the easiest escape route for the WMDs.
But was there another logic at work here? Moving them to the Bekaa would mean putting them at the disposal of Syria’s proxy, Hezbollah, and would mean that, in effect, Saddam was forward-locating the WMDs for use against their ultimate intended target, namely, Israel.
So – do the WMDs exist? Are they accessible to Hezbollah? If yes, or if the Israelis believe that this is plausible, then this would explain why the Israelis would not settle for a “proportionate” response this time around, and would suggest that one of the compelling reasons that Israel is going to destroy Hezbollah is linked (like the US invasion of Iraq) to the specter of WMDs.
And if any of this speculation turns out to be true, the “Hate Bush” crowd will undoubtedly have their hair-on-fire about whether “Bush lied”, “intelligence failed”, and the like. What’s different, in this case, is that to the extent that the WMD question is one of the reasons for the ferocity of the Israeli response, it’s been an unspoken one – unlike the US prior to the Iraq invasion.
My own theory is that this entire skirmish is being used as an excuse to go in to Bakaa for search & destroy.
sources?
Do I need sources for my own theory? Please read the first 3 words of my statement!
To All:
Lisft of JV's translated documents. Most contain info pertaining to the WMD
http://www.freerepublic.com/~jveritas
Also, JV, notice anything in the docs to date about Bekaa?
Don't people just crack you up on this site? He's like a democrat with polls. I can have an opinion until someone gives it to me. Ya just gotta laugh...
sorry...can't have an opinion. Darn typo button.
My thought was, dig up the WMD's. Transport them to John Kerry's office in Boston and say" Here is what I supposedly lied about, have fun difusing this stuff. And you might want to evac civilian populace before attempting to do so." But that will never happen. I just hope they find the stuff and blow it up!
I have to agree with you. Everyone knew those things existed... and poof they disappear? Dollars to doughnuts they are in the Beca. All those statements by the unwashed bearded & suited ones are starting to make sense. They think they have a surprise up their sleeve for the wiping of Israel off the map. And Israel will not be wiped off the map... they ultimately will, if they keep up this Shiite.
Saddam Regime Document Dated January 2003: The French and German Connections http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1603917/posts
I've been thinking along those lines, more that as a result of this skirmish we may have to take a side trip there.
On June 9th [2004], the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission briefed the Security Council about the export of Iraqi WMD, missile and nuclear components shipped out of Iraq before, during and after the invasion. As reported by MENL news service, UNMOVIC acting executive chairman Demetrius Perricos told the Council, "The removal of these materials from Iraq raises concerns with regard to proliferation risks," and said inspectors found Iraqi WMD and missile components shipped abroad that still contained UN inspection tags.
The World Tribune reported on Perricos's briefing. "He said the Iraqi facilities were dismantled and sent both to Europe and around the Middle East at the rate of about 1,000 tons of metal a month... The Baghdad missile site contained a range of WMD and dual-use components, UN officials said. They included missile components, reactor vessel and fermenters ... required for the production of chemical and biological warheads. 'It raises the question of what happened to the dual-use equipment, where is it now and what is it being used for,' Perricos's spokesman, said. 'You can make all kinds of pharmaceutical and medicinal products with a fermenter. You can also use it to breed anthrax.'"
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, said vehicle traffic photographed by U.S. spy satellites indicated that material and documents related to the arms programs were shipped to Syria."
"Last month Moshe Yaalon, who was Israel's top general at the time, said Iraq transported WMD to Syria six weeks before Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
Last March, John A. Shaw, a former U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said Russian Spetsnaz units moved WMD to Syria and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
"While in Iraq I received information from several sources naming the exact Russian units, what they took and where they took both WMD materials and conventional explosives," Mr. Shaw told NewsMax reporter Charles Smith.
Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong was deputy commander of Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In September 2004, he told WABC radio that "I do know for a fact that some of those weapons went into Syria, Lebanon and Iran."
In January 2004, David Kay, the first head of the Iraq Survey Group which conducted the search for Saddam's WMD, told a British newspaper there was evidence unspecified materials had been moved to Syria from Iraq shortly before the war.
"We know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD program," Mr. Kay told the Sunday Telegraph.
Also that month, Nizar Nayuf, a Syrian journalist who defected to an undisclosed European country, told a Dutch newspaper he knew of three sites where Iraq's WMD was being kept. They were the town of al Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria; the Syrian air force base near the village of Tal Snan, and the city of Sjinsar on the border with Lebanon.
In an addendum to his final report last April, Charles Duelfer, who succeeded David Kay as head of the Iraq Survey Group, said he couldn't rule out a transfer of WMD from Iraq to Syria.
"There was evidence of a discussion of possible WMD collaboration initiated by a Syrian security officer, and ISG received information about movement of material out of Iraq, including the possibility that WMD was involved. In the judgment of the working group, these reports were sufficiently credible to merit further investigation," Mr. Duelfer said."
"The short answer to the question of where the WMD Saddam bought from the Russians went was that they went to Syria and Lebanon," former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw told an audience Saturday at a privately sponsored "Intelligence Summit" in Alexandria, Va. (www.intelligencesummit.org).
"We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons," he said. "But we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD programme. Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened to it, is a major issue that needs to be resolved."
"Two days before the war, on March 17th, we saw through multiple intelligence channels - both human intelligence and techinical (satellite,eavesdrop) intelligence - large caravans of people and things, including some of the top 55 Iraqis, going to Syria."
There's a mountainside in Syria we need to fish some things out of and we need to convince the oil speculators that Iran won't really come after us if we do.
Interesting article.WMD's in the Bekka Valley?Finding them would be a coup,but i'd liken their discovery to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.I think Israel is primarily concentrating on hurting "H" as much as possible ie taking out infrastructure and eliminating as many terrs as possible.
And then during the sniper situation we had, what, 5 russian scientists murdered under bridges?
Link please. ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.