Nog

But not all????? Everyone knew Saddam had weapons remaining after the inspectors were kicked out in 98. The question is not weather he had them, it's where are they?

Corwin

Actually we knew nothing of the sort.

You're also ignoring (as Bush did) the CIA report that said that IF Iraq had any biochem weapons left, they would have long since degraded to the point where they would be totally useless.

So where are they Nog? And if it's taking US so long to find them, (remember, we must have had at least a vague idea of where they were.... we had proof, after all...) why would it have killed us to give the UN another month or two? Even three? It's taken us longer than that now.....

Arken

According to Rumsfeld's own words, we had more than a vague idea, yet somehow we still didn't find them:

"[T]he area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

-- Said by Rumsfeld on ABC This Week on March 30th, 2003.

Full transcript here: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2...dabcsteph.html

So, Nog... Rummy blatantly said 'we know where they are' yet we haven't found them. He didn't say 'we have a vague idea where they might be,' he said, 'we know where they are.'

Please show us how exactly this fits into reality.

Nog

But we know they destroy MOST of the weapons????

Corwin

Yup. The UN does actually keep records of such things.

Bush wanted proof of the destruction of weapons that nobody was even sure had ever been MADE in the first place.

Nog

Ok, so MOST of the weapons were destroyed... Not ALL and we have no proof he had some remaining? confusing....

Corwin

He may have had a cannister or two somewhere..... but nobody's been able to find it, and it's past its shelf date anyway even if he did.

So again, where are they?

Nog

Actually according to the UN he had TONS of his WMD's left.

Where are they? Thats the question everyone is asking isnt it?

Godless Dave

Don't mind Corwin, he tends to make facts up as he goes along. Kind of frustrating when he's arguing my side.

Anyway, the inspectors did verify that most of the weapons they knew about were destroyed. That left a few possibilities for the remaining weapons:

They were destroyed secretly, without verification.

They never existed.

They are hidden somewhere.

Which do I think? I don't know and I don't care. Iraq, with or without a small amount of chemical or bioweapons, did not present a credible threat to the United States or any of our allies. If he were a real threat to the region his neighbors in the Gulf would have been asking for our help. Instead they asked us to back off.

Corwin

Actually according to the UN he had tons of INGREDIANTS left.

These could be used either to create chemical weapons, or to create other substances.

Some have in fact been found.... however the evidence they were found with strongly suggests that they were being used for civilian purposes, such as manufacturing pesticides.