← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 9835 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2003-09-17
2003-09-17 02:47 | User Profile
[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20030917/wl_nm/iraq_weapons_blix_dc]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...weapons_blix_dc[/url]
Hans Blix: Iraq Destroyed WMD 10 Years Ago
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix now believes Iraq (news - web sites) destroyed its weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago and that intelligence agencies were wrong in their weapons assessment that led to war.
In an interview with Australian radio from Sweden, Blix said the search for evidence of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons would probably only uncover documents at best.
"The more time that has passed, the more I think it's unlikely that anything will be found," Blix said in the interview, which was broadcast on Wednesday.
"I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they maintained, destroyed almost all of what they had in the summer of 1991," Blix said.
In 1991, the United Nations (news - web sites)' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found what it called a secret nuclear weapons program in Iraq. It spent the next seven years dismantling Baghdad's nuclear capability, until its inspectors were thrown out of Iraq.
Before ordering the invasion that toppled President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), President Bush (news - web sites) referred to an imminent threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as a prime justification for war.
"In the beginning they talked about weapons concretely, and later on they talked about weapons programs...maybe they'll find some documents of interest," Blix said.
Blix spent three years searching for Iraqi chemical, biological and ballistic missiles as head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.
U.N. inspectors left Iraq in March this year as American and British forces prepared to invade. Calls for their reinstatement have been denied, with the U.S. occupation authorities preferring instead to set up their own body, the Iraq Survey Group.
After more than five months of searching, no weapons of mass destruction have been found by the Iraq Survey Group, which consists of about 1,500 experts.
U.S. officials said in July that the search had uncovered documents pointing to a program to develop such weapons.
But the U.S. media network ABC News reported on Monday that a draft report by the Iraq Survey Group provides no solid evidence that Iraq had such arms when the United States invaded.
The U.S. government has consistently said the search for weapons of mass destruction will take time and that it is confident evidence will eventually be uncovered.
2003-09-17 19:44 | User Profile
[QUOTE]*Originally posted by perun1201 * It spent the next seven years dismantling Baghdad's nuclear capability, until its inspectors were thrown out of Iraq. [/QUOTE]
Uh, the Clinton pulled the inspectors out (for some heavy bombing). They weren't thrown out. And, any hesitancy for Saddam to have cooperated with the inspectors should be blamed on the US for the fact of planting spies among the inspectors. Why are we still being subjected to this lie?
Bush is still getting off amazingly easy for telling nothing but blatant lies. In regards to the nuclear program:
Bush said Saddam is six months from nukes. He cited a report that does not exist.
Bush said Saddam was trying to buy uranium from Africa. He credited a report that was a blatant hoax.
Bush said Saddam is buying tubes to use in his nuclear program. Virtually every expert, including the US Energy Dept. said the tubes are not suitable for such use.
Bush said an ex-Saddam scientist claims Saddam still had a nuclear program. The UN and US employers of this scientist both said he is a liar, claiming to know things he didn't know. Other ex-Saddam scientists said Saddam's nuclear program died over a decade ago.
Etc.
There was no need to even look in Iraq to know that everything Bush said was a total lie.
2003-09-17 21:24 | User Profile
Oh well, the Iraqis were so oppressed(because they weren't allowed to watch porno and MTV) that all those lies were put to good use. That's the only argument now that the NeoCons have.
Another thing, I can't stand this "well the Iraqi army had biological warfare suits so therefore they must've had WMDs". Maybe the Iraqi army had them because they wanted to be prepared for the potentiality of a biological/chemical attack AGAINST IRAQ! The Iraqi Army was in charge of the defense of Iraq, so therefore it had to have been prepared for anykind of threat against the soverign nation of Iraq. Need we forget that Iran used bio/chemical weapons on Iraq during the 1980-88 war so the Iraqis had good reason to have been concerned over a potential attack by WMDs.
Its the army's job to make sure that it is as prepared as possible to face down any potential threat to its respective nation. This is common sense people! Switzerland had nuclear warfare shelters, but that doesn't mean Switzerland actually has nuclear weapons or is trying to produce them. sigh
2003-09-17 23:12 | User Profile
No surprises here.
BTW, anyone care to comment on my sig?
2003-09-17 23:23 | User Profile
Happy,
Let's also remember Cheney's big lie just prior to the invasion where he claimed to Tim Russert that Iraq had nukes. This administration is as big a collection of liars as the Clinton administration.