6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

[PLATO]

Today is 6 months from the end of "major combat action" in Iraq. This is the time limit that I had thought would be reasonable to give us some solid evidence that they were there or to find them. It hasn't happened. While I still support the war and think it was the right thing to do, it now has to be stated that our international justification was bull$hit.

Clearly there were violations of the UN resolution and clearly Saddam was a threat, but the imminent danger of WMD's was just not there. We used them only as a catalyst to do what needed to be done. People talk of Bush as being a straightforward Prez...if so he should have had the balls to say "We don't know about WMD for sure, but it is in our interest to attack anyway" instead of hiding behind legal loopholes and dubious intelligence.

I have said for months that if they weren't found I would start the thread myself...Here it is.

Intelligence failure or outright lies...You are responsible to the people Mr. President. Where are the WMD's??

[Shi Huangdi]

Well, we had strong evidence showing Saddam was trying to acquire WMDs. It now merely appears as though he wasn't as sucsessful as we thought.

[Illyrien]

Since we havent found Saddam, how can we prove that he really exists? The fact that he has been in the news for years, should be some proof of his existance.

The same argument can be said about those weapons, we know he have had them, since we know that he has used them on earlier occasions. The fact that he seems to have destroyed them before the invasion was impossible to predict since he spoke to the world as if he still had them.

This invasion of Iraq was fully justified when it began and it clearly still is.

[PLATO]

I agree that the invasion of Iraq was justified. That is not my point. Clearly this a$$hole had to go. The international justification we used for doing it is my issue. Saying that he was trying to get them is clearly a violation of UN resolutions and a legal justification for attack. The problem is that we told the world that he had them, we knew where they were, and that the danger was imminent. Clearly this justification was in error. The war was the right thing to do. The reasoning used before the attack was not.

[HershOstropoler]

Re: 6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

Originally posted by PLATO
While I still support the war and think it was the right thing to do, it now has to be stated that our international justification was bull$hit.

Thank you for acknowledging that.

Although it's not a key issue. About everyone expected some WMD to be found, but the justification of "imminent threat" was utter bull**** and an outright lie, and will still be utter bull**** even if they find remains of his programs.

[Jac de Molay]

Re: 6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

Originally posted by PLATO
People talk of Bush as being a straightforward Prez...if so he should have had the balls to say "We don't know about WMD for sure, but it is in our interest to attack anyway" instead of hiding behind legal loopholes and dubious intelligence.

Are you kidding? You won't get one statement from this Administration saying they were wrong. They don't play like that.

Like Hersh said, the imminent attack rationale was used justify a war that had to be fought right now, and so far it's turned out to bogus. However, the lions share of weapons depots are unsearched. (something like 100 out of 130). I'd wait another six months .

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Illyrien
The same argument can be said about those weapons, we know he have had them, since we know that he has used them on earlier occasions. The fact that he seems to have destroyed them before the invasion was impossible to predict since he spoke to the world as if he still had them.

Saddam hasn't used chemical weapons since the US stopped supporting him.

[PLATO]

Re: Re: 6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
However, the lions share of weapons depots are unsearched. (something like 100 out of 130). I'd wait another six months .

This is very true. The size of some of these dumps is enormous and will take a great deal of time to search. It is entirely possible that they will be found there. BUT, why have no former Iraqi officers talked...why have none of the captured upper etchelion people talked...why have no detectors gone off in the area of these dumps???

They may be there, but it is hard to say that the danger was imminent...at least from WMD's. Powell went to the UN and said "they are here" and they weren't.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Osweld


Saddam hasn't used chemical weapons since the US stopped supporting him.

Sorry but this statement deserves a big...SO WHAT?? It is totally irrelevant to the topic and merely an attempt to flame. Got anything to contribute?

[MattH]

Originally posted by Illyrien
Since we havent found Saddam, how can we prove that he really exists? The fact that he has been in the news for years, should be some proof of his existance.
This invasion of Iraq was fully justified when it began and it clearly still is.

?

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by PLATO



Sorry but this statement deserves a big...SO WHAT?? It is totally irrelevant to the topic and merely an attempt to flame. Got anything to contribute?

How is it irrelevant? You can't assume he has weapons simply because he used them more then a decade ago.

[HershOstropoler]

Re: Re: Re: 6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

Originally posted by PLATO

Powell went to the UN and said "they are here" and they weren't.

Well that was a really sad performance. He was clearly uncomfortable, which made him a bad liar.

[Spiffor]

Re: 6 months and NO Weapons of Mass Destruction

Originally posted by PLATO
Where are the WMD's??

I still believe they are in place that will be "discovered" during the presidential campaign.

[Az]

What strikes me as completely unreasonable, is Saddam's reluctance to indeed admit that he has none, if he has none, in the aftermath of the Gulf War. He could have this inspections regime gone ages ago, but instead, he chose to put his country through more than a decade of suffering, while also losing out on oil revenues.

[Shi Huangdi]

sorry wrong thread

edited out