It's something, but it would be nice to find some actual chemical or biological agents, if not weapons. I still think that Saddam had them, and did something to them. And, I still think taking him out was the right thing to do, but clearly we need to find some WMDs.
United States intelligence agencies have concluded that two mysterious trailers found in Iraq were mobile units to produce germs for weapons, but they have found neither biological agents nor evidence that the equipment was used to make such arms, according to senior administration officials.The officials said intelligence analysts in Washington and Baghdad reached their conclusion about the trailers after analyzing, and rejecting, alternative theories of how they could have been used. Their consensus was in a paper presented to the White House late Monday.
Source: U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms
Consider this (and I didn't think of it...it was raised by a call on Limbaugh last week):
It would have been very easy for the US to *quickly* find stockpiles of WMD materials, perhaps something smuggled in during the confusion of the war. If you believe in conspiracies, then this smuggled material could have been revealed right after the fighting stopped, and we could say "look, there's our smoking gun." Naturally, the naysayers would have claimed foul, but the majority of supporters would have said "see, Bush and Powell were right."
The fact that it's taking longer to find the stuff would really strengthen Bush's case for going to war, since it not only demonstrates the reality of their existance, but of the duplicity of Saddam in hiding them so well, the weakness of the UN inspectors in finding them, and the danger they posed if they got into the wrong hands.
I believe they're out there. Some of the material may have been smuggled out to Syria or Iran, but it's out there. It's a big country, with a lot of desert and places to hide stuff. We've found the graves, and the money. We'll find the chemicals.
Posted by: Joe at May 21, 2024 09:05 AMOf course, if we find them now, I suppose many will say the same thing. Some won't be satisfied no matter what.
But, I concur: some have likely left the country, others are hidden.
Posted by: Steven at May 21, 2024 09:12 AM