Report sparks debate over Iraq arsenal (1 Viewer)

[Libertine]

I wasn’t sure if I should post this here or on one of the existing threads, but its breaking news I guess, so here goes…

Report sparks debate over Iraq arsenal

Here are some key points…

A partially declassified intelligence report provides no new evidence that Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction
President Bush, in making the case for war, alleged that Iraq continued to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction. But the intelligence officials said the munitions found since the invasion dated from before the 1991 Persian Gulf War and for the most part were badly deteriorated. "They are not in a condition where they could be used as designed," one intelligence official said.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive intelligence data involved, said the old munitions had been found in groups of one and two, indicating that they had been discarded, not that they were part of an organized program to stockpile banned weapons.
"There is not new news from the coalition point of view," one official said, noting that chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer predicted in a March 2005 report that such vintage weapons would continue to be found.
The report was completed in April by the Army's National Ground Intelligence Center. The officials said the study was conducted to analyze hazards to troops by the aging chemical munitions as they were found in small caches.

Well there you have it, the early reports on the findings of WMD have been tottaly debunked. I personally am stunned and sadden that some aspects of the US media have tried to portray the report as significant news that WMD had been found Iraq. The levels of oily spin produced from the Murdoch Empire on this issue have been very disturbing indeed. I think this should serve as a lesson to all of those who blindly believe the filth churned out by the partisan news sources.

 

[Yuleluder]

So, turns out that way back in late 2003 congress and the senate knew that we found significant quantities of sarin and mustard loaded into shells. As expected the Democrud are shrugging it off. For some reason this doesn't rise to some mystical level of WMD in order to qualify as WMD. Some will claim it was degraded and thus not dangerous (not true). Some may even suggest that this was stuff that Saddam honestly thought had been destroyed, it fell through the cracks and he didn't even know it existed.

Whatever.

If they had found a nuke warhead, the Dems woulda sniffed in derision and said "it was untested" or "the yield was less than the Hiroshima bomb" and that too would be dismissed as insufficient.

What gets me is this. Whatever excuses and rationalisations the Dems are making now. The fact is, they weren't saying that in 2004. They ran an election on the mantra "Bush lied" and they knew damn well he did not. Even now they still maintain that WMD never existed and Bush knew it. Rank political opportunism. Bad enough in times of peace, but during a war?

History is at stake here. What has any Democrat president since WWII done to change the course of history? Nixon went to China. Reagan oversaw the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. And now Bush may be remembered as the man the stood up to international terrorism and planted the seeds of Democracy in the Middle East. And what did Jimmy Carter do? Or Bill Clinton? Absolutely nothing. Historical failures. At least JFK will be remembered for the space race that put a man on the moon. But that's it. Cuban missile crisis and Bay of Pigs cancel each other out. Historically, Democrat presidents are merely caretakers until some dynamic Republican comes along with a bold plan. I feel sorry for them.

 

[Goobieman]

Well there you have it, the early reports on the findings of WMD have been tottaly debunked.

No... the weapons were indeed found. That's a fact.
What's been "debunked" in the eyes of the left is the importance of this find.

This find proves that:
-Iraq did indeed still have WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their posession of WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their destruction of their WMDs.

These three things constitute the bulk of the reason we went to war.

To admit to these three things removes the war as a political tool for the left -- and thus, they shall never admit to their significance.

 

[Billo_Really]

From the link in post #1:

A partially declassified intelligence report provides no new evidence that Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday.

The report, publicized by two Republican legislators in the midst of a Senate debate on the Iraq war, says that about 500 weapons containing degraded mustard gas and sarin nerve agent have been found in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

President Bush, in making the case for war, alleged that Iraq continued to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction. But the intelligence officials said the munitions found since the invasion dated from before the 1991 Persian Gulf War and for the most part were badly deteriorated. "They are not in a condition where they could be used as designed," one intelligence official said.

We must be getting close to the mid-terms....

 

[aps]

Oh Gawd here we go again. :roll:

Here's an article for the rightwingers to read--maybe it will give you some hope.

For Diehards, Search for Iraq's W.M.D. Isn't Over
By SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, June 22 — The United States government abandoned the search for unconventional weapons in Iraq long ago. But Dave Gaubatz has never given up. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/us/23believers.html

 

[zymurgy]

No... the weapons were indeed found. That's a fact.
What's been "debunked" in the eyes of the left is the importance of this find.

This find proves that:
-Iraq did indeed still have WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their posession of WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their destruction of their WMDs.

These three things constitute the bulk of the reason we went to war.

To admit to these three things removes the war as a political tool for the left -- and thus, they shall never admit to their significance.

This certainly proves that they did indeed have WMD's.

Your other proof is actually conjecture.

 

[scottyz]

No... the weapons were indeed found. That's a fact.
What's been "debunked" in the eyes of the left is the importance of this find.

This find proves that:
-Iraq did indeed still have WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their posession of WMDs
-Iraq did indeed lie about their destruction of their WMDs.

These three things constitute the bulk of the reason we went to war.

To admit to these three things removes the war as a political tool for the left -- and thus, they shall never admit to their significance.

Not only is this old news, but I don't think there was ever any doubt that they might have pre '91 leftovers. These were not the shiny new deployable in 45 min. wmds and active wmd programs we invaded for as even the Whitehouse and ISG has stated.