wmd found? - Page 3  

Originally posted by NaplesX
"Absence of proof does not equal proof of absence."
You guys condemn Bush/US for going to war on little evidence. But I will contend that he/we had far more evidence that SH had the WMDs then the other way, even now. Or should I say, especially after this chance warhead and the other with mustard. Like I said, the more they find the more it proves the US right.

Reuters

Soldiers who removed the bomb experienced symptoms consistent with low-level nerve agent exposure, U.S. officials said. No one was wounded in the partial blast Saturday, and the dispersal of sarin from the bomb was very limited, the military said.


If confirmed in subsequent testing, the discovery would be the first evidence of a banned weapon in Iraq (news - web sites) since the war began. The Bush administration based its case for the war on the existence of such weapons.


Earlier this month, some trace residue of mustard agent, an older type of chemical weapon, was detected in an artillery shell found in a Baghdad street, a U.S. official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The shell was believed to be from one of Saddam's old stockpiles and was not regarded as evidence of recent weapons of mass destruction production in Iraq.


In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cautioned that the sarin results were from a field test, which can be imperfect and more analysis needed to be done.


"We have to be careful," he told an audience in Washington Monday afternoon. Rumsfeld said it many take some time to determine precisely what the chemical was, what its presence means in terms of risks to U.S. forces and other implications.


U.S. troops have announced the discovery of other chemical weapons before, only to see them disproved by later tests. Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said "the jury is still out" on whether chemical or other weapons of mass destruction remained in Iraq.


The former top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay, said it was possible the shell was an old relic overlooked when Saddam said he had destroyed such weapons in the mid-1990s.


Kay, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said he doubted the shell or the nerve agent came from a hidden stockpile, although he didn't rule out that possibility.


Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, speaking to the AP in Sweden, agreed the shell was likely a stray weapon scavenged from a dump and did not signify that Iraq had large stockpiles.


Numerous arsenals and weapons depots were looted in the turmoil following the collapse of the regime last April. Some depots are still only lightly guarded. Many of the materials used for roadside bombs were believed to have been looted.


Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said he believed that insurgents who planted the explosive did not know it contained the nerve agent. The 155-mm shell did not have markings to indicate it contained a chemical agent, a U.S. official said.

According to Ritter, the chemical weapons which Iraq has been known to possess -- nerve agents like sarin and tabun -- have a shelf life of five years, VX just a bit longer. Saddam's major bio weapons are hardly any better; botulinum toxin is potent for about three years, and liquid anthrax about the same (under the right conditions). And he adds that since all chemical weapons were made in Iraq's only chemical weapons complex the Muthanna State establishment, which was blown up during the first Gulf War in 1991 -- and all biological weapons plants and research papers were clearly destroyed by 1998, any remaining bio/chemical weapons stores are now harmless, useless goo.

David Kay, who last year led the post-invasion hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before stepping down, said the sarin was probably left over from the 1980s, produced either during the Iraq-Iran war or before the 1991 Gulf War.

"It was probably just scavenged from one of the 125-plus ammunition storage points that still remain," Kay said. More forensic testing should determine with some confidence when it was produced, he said.

In Baghdad, Kimmitt told a news conference that two members of a U.S. explosives team had been treated for exposure to the substance.

Originally posted by dmz
The withdraw/blend into predetermined locations, use stashes of weapons to wear down the invasion force, having certain targets "zeroed", etc.

Imagnine a crack house/meth lab in D.C. getting six months notice on a bust. Same thing.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the findings of sarin were based on a field test, which can be imperfect, and more analysis needed to be done. "We have to be careful," he told an audience in Washington. Rumsfeld said it might take some time to determine precisely what the chemicals were.

The former top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay, said it was possible the shell was an old relic overlooked when Saddam said he had destroyed such weapons in the mid-1990s.

Kay, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said he doubted the shell or the nerve agent came from a hidden stockpile, although he didn't rule out that possibility.

Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, speaking to the AP in Sweden, agreed the shell was likely a stray weapon scavenged from a dump and did not signify that Iraq had large stockpiles.

Originally posted by NaplesX
So, if you lived next to a known murderer or child molester, you wouldn't make moves to protect your family unless it was an imminent threat?

I think you would agree that SH was a threat of one kind or another. So you are basing your position on a matter of degrees, IMO.

And you as President Gilsch would have gambled the security of your nation on a bunch of maybes and "Yeah he's a bad guy but not that bad" kind of logic?

That logic did not pan out with AQ and the other terrorists, did it?

Originally posted by dmz
I don't think you can separate SH from the "opposition"---or his plans to mitigate the invasion. IF he had WMD in any quantity he either did not hide/destroy/give it away or he did. He had quite some time to do this.

If Rummy did not really know where the WMD were in Iraq---then we are dealing with comic book villians who are running the country.

Also, I must insist that my corrupt politicians are better than your corrupt politicians.

O'REILLY:_ All right._ But on March 30, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense, said this, he said, "We know where the WMDs are._ They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad."_ That turned out to be a mistake.
RICE:_ Well, they're still searching._ The areas around Tikrit and Baghdad happens to be one of the most difficult areas, of course._ It's in the Sunni triangle (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

On March 30, 11 days into the war, Rumsfeld said in an ABC News interview when asked about WMDs: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."