Official: Iraq may still seek WMDs (Paul Pillar)

[sabra]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wowmd0310,0,5844426.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Official: Iraq may still seek WMDs


WASHINGTON -- A former top CIA official said Thursday that despite the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraq is likely to be looking for weapons of mass destruction within the next five to 10 years.

Paul Pillar, who until last year was in charge of intelligence assessments for the Middle East, said the CIA warned the Bush administration before the Iraq invasion in 2003 that a change of regimes would not necessarily solve any WMD problem.

In a speech at the Middle East Institute here, Pillar said Iraqis live in "a dangerous neighborhood," with rival countries pursuing weapons of mass destruction. So the CIA had warned that a future Iraqi government would likely want the very weapons Hussein was (wrongly) suspected of hiding, including nuclear weapons, he said.

"Iraq may turn once again to ... a WMD program," Pillar, who is retired from the CIA, said Thursday. "And wouldn't that be ironic?"

[buddysmellgood]

1. We'll probably sell them to them.

[arcos]

5. Yep... and then the cycle will start all over again... nt

[serryjw]

16. From "Why we fight" ( movie)

"We knew Iraq has WMD....because we had the receipt"

[ECH1969]

2. Piller has been ripping Bush and company a new one for some time

Good job, keep it up.

[yourout]

3. Give every country in the middle east a single nuke.

And tell them if they use that nuke or try to make more they will be blown off the face of the earth.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Well, I guess that the solution to that is to set up permanent

bases in Iraq. I guess we don't have anything to worry about then, do we?

[rodeodance]

6. glad Pillner put this out.

....."Iraq may turn once again to ... a WMD program," Pillar, who is retired from the CIA, said Thursday. "And wouldn't that be ironic?"

[Roland99]

7. And with the four major, permanent US bases in Iraq....

we'll be right there to be sure they are used properly. :evilgrin:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. I thought it was 14 permanent bases in Iraq, not 4.

[Roland99]

11. I believe it was scaled down to four mega bases

something like 17k troops at each.

[uppityperson]

8. excuse me, but, oh give me a f*ing break

Obviousman strikes again and BOO!!! gee, you mean our bringing freedoms and democracising to Iraq didn't make everything hunky dory peachy keen.

[sofa king]

9. Cue rimshot.

[file83]

12. *DA-dun-TSSS*

I want to smoke what that "Official" is smoking.

[radfringe]

13. OH MY GAAAAWWWDDD

so we should invade again?

[Charlie Brown]

14. Oh, Brother

I can't believe I'm reading this. This has got to be an Onion story. Where, oh where does the CIA find these people?

[sutz12]

15. Not surprising....

after all, if Iran gets one, Iraq will need one. Assuming they are still a country by then. After a nasty 5-6 year civil war, it'll probably be torn apart. Iran will annex the Shi'a part. The Sunni part will align with Syria, and the Kurds will form their own country.