Article

2003-04-14 Iraq

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Tadderly 2003-04-14 02:38 pm|| || Front Page|| [11126 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Still no chemical or biological agents found, though. I am starting to seriously doubt that they exist.

Posted by Tex 2003-04-14 14:44:04|| 2003-04-14 14:44:04|| Front Page Top

#2 ... Freakley ... What a name.

These labs and the documentation are important finds. They show the intent. And hopefully we can pick up the trail of where they sent the things they have made. The constant delays in action since November of last year have given the Iraqis time to partition, and hide or ship the weapons they made - possibly in Syria, but hopefully not with terrorists.

Bio weapons are the hardest to deploy effectively, but the easiest to transport and store once they have been developed, especially in the case of Anthrax.

Chemical ones, unless they are modern binary munitions like those of the US and Soviet era, are difficult to store for long periods.

And nukes are very difficult to develop.

Posted by OldSpook 2003-04-14 15:11:32|| 2003-04-14 15:11:32|| Front Page Top

#3 Does that mean that the reports of the Cyanide, and and Mustard Gas in the Euphrates where as bogus as the rest turned out to be? I always wondered why that got put to bed so quickly.
And what about the underground compound that had a bunch of "nuculer" "stuff" in it? Crap too?

Posted by Mike N. 2003-04-14 15:17:46|| 2003-04-14 15:17:46|| Front Page Top

#4 Too true, OldSpook. The Weasels gave Iraq a lot of time, and there are still thousands of sites to check, and, apparently, a 1,000 pounds of interesting documents. Doing a thorough search necessarily will take MUCH longer than it took to get from Kuwait to Tikrit.

Posted by FormerLiberal 2003-04-14 15:23:59|| 2003-04-14 15:23:59|| Front Page Top

#5 My guess is we have already found quite a bit of stuff, but we arent releasing it for general knowledge for one very good reason.

Leverage.

Imagine sitting in the french ambassadors office, with a big portfolio of pictures taken from a recovered bioweapons site in Iraq. Imagine having actual physical receipts,logs and ephemera from the Iraqis to the French( you dont really think Rhone-Polenc only makes insecticide, do you?).

Then imagine telling the french ambassador to get his military HAZMAT team together and get in to clean it up, and oh, by-the-way "mr. ambassador", if we find out you're selling any of this stuff to anyone else, this portfolio hits the front pages of the newspapers tommorow morning. Imagine asking in the most condescending way possible for the french to tell us everything they know about any possible other sites int Iraq. Of course before you start, you should warn the french ambassador that this is not the only site we have found, and our attitude towards the french nation is likely to be reflected in how "honest and forthright" the french ambasssador is.

Get my drift, Mr. Villepan?

Posted by Frank Martin 2003-04-14 15:44:57|| [varifrank.blogspot.com] 2003-04-14 15:44:57|| Front Page Top

#6 Nope. They've found full warheads with traces of nerve agent around 'round inserts' -probably fill ports. They've found others with blister agents. Even MSNBC ran their own tests on a bombed out bunker and got positives. But then the stories are gobbled up.
We're covering up. Something we're not very good at. And I don't know why. Possibly giving cover for the Axis, now that it's out that they were up to their neck in embargoed arms to Saddam. Behind the scenes, Powell might be extracting something we consider more valuable (like a free pass when we do Syria)
I was hoping some 'imbedded blogger' would post some bombshell, here, for instance. It'll come out.

Posted by Scott 2003-04-14 15:48:46|| 2003-04-14 15:48:46|| Front Page Top

#7 Humm..
so.. which governments haven't demanded any evidence of WMD?

Posted by Dishman 2003-04-14 16:47:28|| 2003-04-14 16:47:28|| Front Page Top

17:47 True German Ally
11:53 Scott
08:15 raptor
10:00 raptor
09:53 raptor
07:33 Ptah
07:28 raptor
07:27 Frank G
07:12 raptor
00:54 Brew
00:52 Brew
00:48 Brew
00:44 Brew
00:35 marek
00:35 Brew
00:16 anon
00:02 Atomic Conspiracy
23:56 John
23:48 Anonymous
23:20 someone
23:19 anon1
23:17 someone
23:06 Scott
22:48 Old Patriot