Guys, this NOT meant to bash the US or its government, although I have to admit to some when it comes to things Rumsfeld is saying (and has been sayin). From today's press: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The failure of U.N. arms inspectors to find weapons of mass destruction "could be evidence, in and of itself, of Iraq's noncooperation" with U.N. disarmament resolutions, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday. Iraq says it has abandoned its efforts to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons -- a declaration the United States has dismissed. The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, told the U.N. Security Council last week that his teams had found no "smoking gun" in nearly two months of inspections but urged more "active cooperation" from Iraq. "The fact that the inspectors have not yet come up with new evidence of Iraq's WMD program could be evidence, in and of itself, of Iraq's noncooperation," Rumsfeld said. "We do know that Iraq has designed its programs in a way that they can proceed in an environment of inspections and that they are skilled at denial and deception." http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/15/sproject.irq.inspections/index.html Excuse me!? Can someone explain the logic behind this reasoning? I have e-mailed the White House but no answer as of yet.....
Im going to regret this...Said I would try and keep to ww2...But did you ask em where the wmd are? We keep getting told they know they have em, so easy peasy, tell Blix where to look. Greatest technilogical nation in the world that can use sattelite imagary to read number plates. If they know they have em, they could end all us middle of the road guys objections and get me on board certainly so I dont have to listen to Mr.Blair telling me to trust him at every turn. Sorry I dont Trust you Mr.Blair. I dont trust sadman either. But we are supposed to be the goodies.
Well, I didn't ask as I assumed they wouldn't tell me anyway... To read the remark in its context go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2003/t01152003_t015sd.html I don't get it either why these, in my humble opinion, 'simple' questions cannot be answered. If the Iraqi's have WMD, tell the inspectors where. But I guess that they 'only' have indications, circumstancial evidence, hunches? that the Iraqi's have them, but that is all. And than it is hard to name sites. If you have evidence, show it and every middle of the road guy will be on your side, as Urgh says. What is the point of withholding? Look at the Cuba crisis: When the Americans had the U2 pics, they showed on TV for eveybody to see; there was no question as to the justification of the US stance... so far the opinion of this armchair analyst and -president....
I think this points to my whole problem with Bush all along- priorities. He is clearly obsessed with Iraq and Saddam. It seems obvious, to the whole world, that Bush is dead-set on going to war with Iraq, no matter what anyone says or finds. Apparently forgetting about the terrorist who apparently (I guess it hasn't been proven) killed thousands of Americans... Apparently ignoring the "axis of evil" nation that has openly told everyone that it has nukes and is close to having more. It really does blow my mind... I really can't see how the majority of the American people have actually bought into Bush's whoel Iraq thing. And Rumsfeld? I like him at first, because of the whole gruff, not-telling-you-things-if-I-don't-want thing. But if the nation is heading towards war, gosh, I'd like him to tell us something!!! It's one thing when you might have to protect a source or contact... but when bringin a nation towards war? I'd like a little more justification. And those lines about "no wmds equals must have wmds"- symptomatic of the Bush administration's obsession wiht Iraq, I'd say... Stevin, bashing the Bush administration is almost impossible not to do when they spout this kind of garbage...
If the inspectors find anything or nothing, it doestn't mather. Bush is determined to attack Sadam to finnish the job his father didn't fulfill. Bush has covered himself against any attack. If they find anything they attack because Iraq has WMD. If the inspectors don't find anything, than Sadam is hiding it and they attack also.
Is this the same Don Rumsfeld that was offering Hussein military aid against Iran during face-to- face meetings in the 80's? Is this the same Bush administration that shipped 15 tons of VX nerve agent to Iraq 3 months before they invaded Kuwait? Nah...must be different people...
Last evening the UN inspectors reported they had found empty warheads that could be used ( probably ) for chemical or biological weapons. Don´t know if that can change anything as they can be explained in many ways...
Yes, all they need is an excuse, so it won't look like a complete agression... Even if the inspectors do not find anything, Powell and Bush will find their excuse...
U.S. Shipments of Pathogens to Iraq The Associated Press Shipments from the United States to Iraq of the kinds of pathogens later used in Iraq's biological weapons programs, according to records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Senate Banking Committee and U.N. weapons inspectors: ANTHRAX Iraq admitted making 2,200 gallons of anthrax spores and putting some of them into weapons. U.N. inspectors said Iraq could have made three times as much anthrax as it acknowledged, and could not verify Iraq's claims to have destroyed all of its weaponized anthrax. The American Type Culture Collection, a biological samples repository in Manassas, Va., sent two shipments of anthrax to Iraq in the 1980s. Three anthrax strains were in a May 1986 shipment sent to the University of Baghdad, which U.N. inspectors later linked to Iraq's biological weapons program. A 1988 shipment from ATCC to Iraq also included four anthrax strains. BOTULINUM Iraq admitted making 5,300 gallons of botulinum toxin, a deadly poison produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, and putting some of it into weapons. Five warheads filled with botulinum toxin are missing. ATCC sent six strains of Clostridium botulinum to the University of Baghdad in the May 1986 shipment. The September 1988 ATCC shipment to Iraq also contained one strain of Clostridium botulinum. In March 1986, the CDC sent samples of botulinum toxin and botulinum toxiod (used to make a vaccine against botulinum poisoning) directly to Iraq's al-Muthanna complex, a center for Iraq's chemical weapons program and the site where Iraq restarted its dormant biological weapons program in 1985. GAS GANGRENE U.N. inspectors concluded Iraq could have produced hundreds of gallons of the germs that cause gas gangrene, though Iraq admitted producing just a fraction of that amount. Gas gangrene, caused by the Clostridium perfringens bacteria, causes toxic gases to form inside the body, killing tissues and causing internal bleeding, lung and liver damage. ATCC sent three strains of Clostridium perfringens to the University of Baghdad in the May 1986 shipment and another three strains in the 1988 shipment. OTHER The CDC sent bacteria samples to Iraq's Atomic Energy Commission in 1985, 1987 and 1988. The commission was involved in Saddam's attempts to build a nuclear bomb and other weapons of mass destruction. The CDC also sent bacteria samples to the Sera and Vaccine Institute in Amiriyah, Iraq, in 1988. The institute stored samples and did genetic engineering research for Iraq's biological weapons programs, U.N. inspectors found.
