Powell Says C.I.A. Was Misled About Weapons

The New York Times ^ | 5/17/04 | DAVID E. SANGER

[LS]

OOooooohhh. Well, that's different, although do we yet know with certainty what those "mobile labs" were for?

[The Raven]

Newsmax's first page has a streamer with this..

"...Powell said that he had cited intelligence that had been “deliberately” falsified in an effort to win public approval for the war."

Wonder what that's all about.

[mr.pink]

The wolves in this case would be to deliver the felon Chalabi to a Jordanian prison where he has been convicted of embezzlement.

That would be a nice ending, with the added bonus of tossing a bone to the Jordanians who have generally been a help to our nation.

Then we can settle up with the domestic guys who knew exactly what they were doing, and what they were getting, when they hired him.

Wolfie and Dougie being marched out of the Pentagon toting one carboard box of posessions each will probably be as close to a perp walk as we'll get....and I doubt we'll even get that.

[mr.pink]

Will we discover Iraqi WMDs in Syria, I really wonder.

The exact same group (along with the exact same media gang, and the one predictable "ally") who sold us the same shinola vis a vis Iraq, are now feverishly attempting to try the same towards Syria.

Someone should buy one of those little desk signs for the President that has the ole "Fool me once, shame on you...." slogan on it.

[Atlantic Friend]

I concur with the nefarious role of such dubious sources - but I'd like to get to the bottom of the sarin shell story.

Was it a leftover from the Iraqi army ? A shell taken out of a hidden stockpile ? Was the building a hidden factory for such devices ? And if genuine, as it seems to be, who is behind the explosion ? I really hope we get answers to these few questions real quick.

[mr.pink]

Good questions and I share your couriousity re them.

Iraq did not invent sarin, and certainly is not the only nation to posess it.

There so many different folks from different nations running amuck there, with each pursuing their own interests and agendas, that getting the "answers" may be difficult.

[Atlantic Friend]

Indeed. I was, and right now still am, skeptical about the WMD story. Not that I doubt Iraq had some before the Gulf War, that is much documented. A few Chem mortar or artillery shells are certainly no big deal. A large stockpile, however disseminated throughout the country, or a factory able to produce thousands, or even hundreds of such shells would be quite a different matter to me.

What baffle me here are the initial reports, that said a small quantity of Sarin had been detected. Is "a small quantity" consistent with the explosion of a 155 mm Sarin shell ? I just hope further reports will make the whole thing crystal clear.