THIS IS NOT A TROLL

[kisc]

Bush told the truth: The weapons existed

What do you all think of this? It is the opinion section of whatever this website is, where it belongs, but it seems to make a good point.

Not that I know what I'm talking about, which is why I hope someone smarter than me will have something to say.

....

Also, can you say deja vu[edit

Comments

Of course, I'm not necessarily the smart person you were asking for, just a bored LJer ...

[ruthanolis]

"First, Iraq did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction."

Yes, the big word there is did. As in, not anymore. And most definitely not by the time Hans "I'm looking for arms" Blix was doing his useless sleuthing.

"But the likelihood of the Iraqis destroying the WMDs on their own is negligible."

From what I remember, during the 80s and 90s the Iraqi government/armed forces gassed the hell out of the Kurdistan rebels in the north/north-eastern mountainous region of Iraq. Apparently it was almost genocidal in scope.
The possibilities then are three four: smuggled/exported, buried and hidden, destroyed or used before the Marines even arrived. Which would, if you think about it, be the best time for the Marines to go in.

Seriously, opinion pieces should always start with "Dear Sir/Madam" and end with "Yours sincerely/disgustedly/gratefully" ...
I don't remember asking for a journalists opinion ever. I know how they think. And they don't often as not. Just like the rest of us.

"Second, Iraq was a key haven for international terrorists."

Well, why don't we crack down on Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and pretty much the rest of the African nations north of the Equator who have had known terrorist camps run in them over the last forty or whatever years. But the problem there is that a good chunk of those camps are partially funded by various countries, including the US, UK, USSR/Russia and other world powers ...
That's why the terrorist camp "outside Baghdad" was never really an issue. Certain goverment agencies almost certainly knew it was there - because they had been clients/customers of them over the years.

"Third, nobody in the Bush administration pressured intelligence agencies to alter their analyses."

And this is supposed to make us trust them more? They couldn't say either way.
Somebody said Intelligence Agency? I see an "agency" ... /sigh

Re: Of course, I'm not necessarily the smart person you were asking for, just a bored LJer ...

[kisc]

Ruth Ruth, you're plenty smart.

Thanks for your comments.

Re: Of course, I'm not necessarily the smart person you were asking for, just a bored LJer ...

[ruthanolis]

And I did look up that "iraq flypaper" Google. If I wasn't seeing things and you have since deleted that comment. I just didn't get about answering yet. ;)

Anywa, the only thing I'll say about that whole issue is this: Guerilla warfare [what's happening in Iraw right now] and terrorism [9/11. or 11/9 if you're from the more civilised parts of the Western World like Australia and the UK =P] are related, but they are two different things. One does not prepare you for the other. They just share some skillsets. ;)