Somebody spelled it out for Niles Lathem, of all people. My impression of his reports is that they tend to be a bit breathless and tabloidy. Accordingly, I wonder if he, or the New York Post for that matter, are taken seriously in their reporting on weighty matters like this.
That the initial mainstream media "leak" on this subject went through this channel suggests to me that it will NOT receive official confirmation (until, perhaps, after the fact). Instead, the intent is to create a "buzz" and lend another layer of seriousness to the doctrine of preemption.
Just reading the PR leaves. But, as before, we shall see what we shall see...
As the Bush administration prepares to oust Saddam, one way or another, senior administration officials are very worried that Saddam will try to use his WMD arsenal. Intelligence experts have warned that Saddam may be “flushing” his small, easy-to-conceal biological agents, trying to get them out of the country before an American invasion. A vial of bugs or toxins that could kill thousands could fit in a suitcase—or a diplomatic pouch. There are any number of grim end-game scenarios. Saddam could try blackmail, threatening to unleash smallpox or some other grotesque virus in an American city if U.S. forces invaded. Or, like a cornered dog, he could lash out in a final spasm of violence, raining chemical weapons down on U.S. troops, handing out his bioweapons to terrorists. “That’s the single biggest worry in all this,” says a senior administration official. “We are spending a lot of time on this,” said another top official.It's like Basil Fawlty: "Don't mention the [anthrax]. Whatever you do, don't mention the [anthrax]!" Some "grotesque virus" indeed! LOL! The code words are flying thick and fast.Some administration critics have said, in effect, let sleeping dogs lie. Don’t provoke Saddam by threatening his life; there is no evidence that he has the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction. [Then why wory about provoking him?] Countered White House national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice, “Do we wait until he’s better at it?” Several administration officials indicated that an intense effort is underway, covert as well as overt, to warn Saddam’s lieutenants to save themselves by breaking from the dictator before it’s too late. “Don’t be the fool who follows the last order” is the way one senior administration official puts it.
Oh, well, some truths are better left unspoken, some ideas better left just out of focus. There's more comfort in looking through the glass darkly than in facing reality head on, is there not?