The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
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Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#2It was obvious to anybody who cared, before the invasion, that there were no WMDs. Hans Blix inspected every place suspected, and reported not only nothing, but not even a trace of anything, in the daily newspapers.
I suspect Maddox was misled, like Powell, by relying only on classified material that amounted to summaries produced with deliberate bias.
It is a fundamental problem: there is a thousand times as much classified material as you can afford to read. Who can justify reading outside it, where the writer might not have access to the whole story? But because there is so much, you are obliged to rely on summaries, and the sound judgment and the scruples of those in charge of what goes into them.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#3It was obvious to anybody who cared, before the invasion, that there were no WMDs. Hans Blix inspected every place suspected, and reported not only nothing, but not even a trace of anything, in the daily newspapers. I suspect Maddox was misled, like Powell, by relying only on classified material that amounted to summaries produced with deliberate bias. It is a fundamental problem: there is a thousand times as much cl…
I think part of doubt has been caused by the blind spot we had on the Soviets. Gorbachov was the first to admit there were large biochemical facilities in the USSR with the ability to manufacture advanced weapons. This miscalculation by Western governments has not been advertised while having a significant effect on their confidence to judge adversaries.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#4OK well I am sorry he missed finding WMDs in iraq. I hope he enjoyed his time there.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#5Audience Member : Negrodamus, why is President Bush convinced there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
Negrodamus : Because he has the receipt.
- from Paul Moody's "Negrodamus" skit on Chappelle's Show
More seriously, Western countries sold Saddam plenty of chemical weapons which were used to kill lots of Iranians during the particularly brutal Iraq-Iran war during the 1980s.
The whole situation is complete madness from the average individual's perspective. Technically there were still WMDs in Iraq (because "we" sold them to them so of course we knew) but it was probably covered up or obfuscated.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#6I don't understand why he went in the first place. It was clear to everyone it was BS. It should have been triply clear to someone in the DoE whose job includes knowing these things!?
Based on this, the guy is either an idiot (unlikely) or just wilfully ignorant.
Once he was in Iraq, and after he returned, he knew. That's be his own admission. So he spent his time running around and interrogating old men until they cried, blocking streets, disrupting commerce etc.
Then when he came back, instead of telling the truth, he covered for the whole enterprise.
This guy is telling a sob story and acting like he is the victim. But he's not. He's part of the problem. Without people like him, wars like Iraq 2 wouldn't happen.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#7I don't understand why he went in the first place. It was clear to everyone it was BS. It should have been triply clear to someone in the DoE whose job includes knowing these things!? Based on this, the guy is either an idiot (unlikely) or just wilfully ignorant. Once he was in Iraq, and after he returned, he knew. That's be his own admission. So he spent his time running around and interrogating old men until they c…
> It was clear to everyone it was BS.
That’s what a lot of republicans have been saying about climate change for decades. Sensible people don’t act based on “everyone knows” especially not when tasked with actually digging out facts.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#8Destroying Iraq was a part of the 'neocon revolution' which really got it's legs after 9/11.
This podcast helps give some insight:
https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-the-paradox-of-dick-cheney-with-...
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#9Destroying Iraq was a part of the 'neocon revolution' which really got it's legs after 9/11. This podcast helps give some insight: https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-the-paradox-of-dick-cheney-with-...
If you really want to learn more than from a single podcast, read slowly about:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_C...
and check what were the functions before, then and after of the people who wrote the documents or were involved and also what they wrote. Especially a document:
"Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century," September 2000.
With the famous quote:
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor."
And exactly a year later, 9/11, conveniently for the writers, happened.
If I remember correctly everything was on their internet site, available even before 9/11 for everybody to read and think about it. Just checked: the Internet Archive has a first capture from one month after 9/11. Still, the document was made before.
Re: The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
#10Audience Member : Negrodamus, why is President Bush convinced there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Negrodamus : Because he has the receipt. - from Paul Moody's "Negrodamus" skit on Chappelle's Show More seriously, Western countries sold Saddam plenty of chemical weapons which were used to kill lots of Iranians during the particularly brutal Iraq-Iran war during the 1980s. The whole situation is complete mad…
> Technically there were still WMDs in Iraq
Depends on what you consider a WMD. How many expired cans of phosgene makes a valid WMD claim? Iraw famously used gas against many enemies, decades before. Ultimately, Saddam had less difficulty getting ahold of conventional arms, which he used to attack Kuwait. Unfortunately for him, this mobilized the US (who had been waiting a long time) as a signal that Saddam's regime was desperate, alongside showing what military capability they had.