Saddam and WMDs... how to respond?

[GreenPartyVoter]

Me: Saddam didn't have WMDs. Scott Ritter told us this, and he was in a better position to know than most people.

And as for the gasses used on the Kurds, the USA sold them to him.


Response:


15 out of 15 members of the UN Security Council found Saddam to be in material breach of the WMD resolutions.

The following statements are not from the 1990's:

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country. -Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002. "

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
-Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"People can quarrel with whether we should have more troops in
Afghanistan or internationalize Iraq or whatever, but it is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and
chemical weapons." - Bill Clinton, July 23, 2003

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real -
Sen. John F. Kerry (D,MA), Jan. 23. 2003. "

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." -- Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002


What is your evidence that the USA government was involved in selling materials to gas the Kurds? I do know that the USA lifted sanctions on Iraq in the 1980's to give them weapons in their war against Iran.

A far as the lesson learned, hindsight is 20-20. We don't know who our next enemies or allies will be. The USA was allied with Japan and Italy in WWI and sold Japan supplies right up until just before Pearl Harbor. The Communists were also our allies during WWII.

The USA is not much different than other countries when it comes to war-time alliances. Enemies of our enemies become our allies. Nations will align themselves with other nations they disagree with as long as there are common enemies to defeat.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. bush said no WMDs,

what better authority than the Presnit? Or are you doubting the President, how disloyal of you?

[Montauk6]

2. The quotes may not be from the 90s, but isn't the context or reference?

[ComerPerro]

3. George W Bush, "Mission Accomplished", May 2003

So let me get this straight:

Assuming (which is a pretty wide assumption, I am feeling too lazy to google right now) that these quotes are even accurate and in context, is the person you are discusisng this with trying to say that Bush only took us to war because the Democrats made him?

I thought he was more powerful than that...

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. No.. it's the "WMDs are the reason for the war" and so is the

"humanitarian mission"

[Beaverhausen]

7. easy - Inspectors were there and found no WMDs

for what, at least 6 months before the war inspectors were all over Iraq and found nothing.

and we supported Iraq in the 80s during the Iran-Iraq war. That's when we supplied them with the gas and the other weapons that we "thought" they still had.

[MIMIC]

5. Easy....

Everyone was for weapons inspectors in Iraq. Bush kicked them out and went to war, in spite of their progress (a.k.a. revelation that Iraq had no stockpiles of WMD)

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. Given a few more months, the UN inspectors would have

put and end to any doubts, speculation or reliance on 10 year old intelligence, I think. They would have reported the same conclusion that everybody else came to in about May of 2003. Please recall that they left Iraq in the days prior to us launching the unprovoked attack.

[geek tragedy]

8. That's an irrational appeal to authority.

The Freepi assume we think like they do.

In their minds, "Bush says it" = "it must be true."

In our minds, the fact that Clinton or Gore or Kerry said it doesn't mean it was true. They were wrong, and shame on them for that.

Also point out that Clinton didn't launch a war against Iraq.

[Poiuyt]

9. Remember the time frame of those quotes

Right after 9/11, most people wanted to go to war against somebody, anybody. Bush randomly chose Iraq, and all the politicians followed his lead. If they hadn't, they would have been labeled as unpatriotic.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Thanks, folks. My reply?

The quotes you mentioned were recent, yes, but the intel they relied on was old. The inspectors were finding (and are finding) no evidence of Saddam having a still-working weapons program. I think we could have found that out by keeping people up left and right and THEN finding out, which is my point.

As for selling him chemical weapons, you are saying it was all well and good for him to use them on Iranians, but not Kurds? My point is we should not make allies of countries that are not democracies, otherwise this sort of thing can go on. Now as you point out some od those democratic nations for whatever reason may become our enemies (Like Russia may end up there again.. but then Russia is barely hanging on to democracy thes days.), that's something different.. but why align ourselves from the get-go with non-democratic countries we know are likely to commit atrocities?

Some might call me an idealist but I prefer to take the high road, is all.