| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| U.S.: No Sign of Iraq Bio-Weapons Yet |
| 2003-03-22 |
| Severely edited to stay on target. U.S. special operations troops combing Iraq for Scud missiles and chemical or biological weapons have found none so far, a senior American military officer said Saturday. Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference that the Iraqis have not fired any Scuds and that U.S. forces searching airfields in the far western desert of Iraq have uncovered no missiles or launchers. Iraq denies having any Scuds, which have sufficient range to reach Israel, but Gen. Tommy Franks, who is running the war, said Saturday that Iraq has yet to account for about two dozen Scuds that United Nations inspectors have said were left over from the 1991 Gulf War. "Mr. President, incredible as it seems, it appears that the Iraqis were telling the truth." "My bad, Don." Iraq also denies it holds any chemical or biological weapons. McChrystal said the United States will either bomb any such weapons it should find or seize them with ground forces, whichever is safer. With U.S. ground forces advancing toward Baghdad, Pentagon officials expressed concerns the troops might come across Republican Guard troops armed with chemical weapons. "We would be hopeful that those with their triggers on these weapons understand what Secretary Don Rumsfeld said in his comments yesterday: `Don't use it. Don't use it,'" Franks, the top U.S. war commander, said Saturday at a news conference at his Persian Gulf command post. Anybody home in Baghdad to give the order to use these weapons? That bunker shot the first night might have been the single best thing done so far. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Have to say if no WmD found I will be highly pissed.If the U.S. lied about WMD what else have they lied about? |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-03-23 09:35:05 |
| #2 First, Hussein wasn't going to place any chemical weapons in either of the no-fly zones, which are watched like a hawk. They will all be found between the 33rd and the 36th parallel, probably in/around Hussein's "Palaces" or some of the nice, fancy mosques he's built since 1991. This guy getting religion just doesn't seem plausible - there HAS to be an alternate reason for all that effort. Second, he's already screwed. The United States has identified at least two missiles fired at Kuwait as being Scuds, which Hussein isn't "allowed" to have. Third, something I've brought up several times elsewhere, which no one seems to want to consider: there are going to be hundreds of Iraqi casualties in Baghdad, simply because Hussein is throwing up tons of lead, trying to bring down some of our incoming missiles. What goes up must come down. Big chunks, too! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-03-23 00:39:44 |
| #1 I gotta be honest... if we don't find ANY bio or chem weapons in Iraq then I am personally going to be very disillusioned with this administration. A very real threat of WMD is/was the only real reason for a pre-emptive foray into Iraq. If there isn't one, then what is all this for? Liberty for Iraqis? Puh-leeze, I don't want US troops dying for something they aren't willing to fight for themselves. I am not hoping that they use WMD, mind you, I just want them found. In a perverse way, I would be able to relax more after that. There has been sooooooo much certainty that they exist, and every day that does by without the evidence gets me more anxious. But I rationalize by telling myself that IF Sadaam has them, they are close to Baghdad, with the elite units, being held for a final seige, because as soon as they are used then world opinion might sway for the Colilitions' justness of the war. I believe that Hussein's plan is to hunker down in Baghdad, try to turn it into a "Stalingrad" and hope world and US opinion can turn against us as it has Israel in Palestine. |
| Posted by: Tex 2003-03-22 23:51:37 |