Powell: It's 'Open Question' Whether Iraq Had WMD

[displacedtexan]

Mods, hope this isn't a dupe! It's the Yahoo version of an earlier posted story.

Powell: It's 'Open Question' Whether Iraq Had WMD
16 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said on Saturday it was an "open question" whether stocks of weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq (news - web sites) and conceded it was possible Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had none.

Powell made the comments one day after David Kay, the leader of the U.S. hunt for banned weapons in Iraq, stepped down and said he did not believe there were any large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in the country.
"The open question is how many stocks they had, if any, and if they had any, where did they go. And if they didn't have any, then why wasn't that known beforehand?" Powell said to reporters as he flew to Tbilisi to attend Sunday's inauguration of Georgian President-elect Mikhail Saakashvili.


the sleazy details...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040124/ts_nm/iraq_usa_powell_dc

[pinniped]

1. But that jerk made the announcement overseas.

Make it over here you moron.

[hippiechick]

2. IMPEACH AND IMPRISON NOW !!!

Haul the entire farking misAdministration to Gitmo !

They are admitting they asmuch as lied or flat out didn't know if Iraq had WMD's before 'the liberation' ... the invasion was based
on pure bullshit ... we've got over 500 dead whose families should
be screaming for Bush's head on a stick ... where are they ?

And why aren't any of the Dem candidates shouting these headlines from the rooftops ??

:shrug:

:hippie:

[Union Thug]

3. Gitmo or any where outside this country...

Hell, just ostracize the entire gaggle of crooks and thugs.

I keep asking the same question.. where's the outrage? This kind of treason, coupled with the sacking of the American worker to further enrich the elite should be invoking pitchforks and torches from the population. Maybe there's too much zoloft in the water supply? =)

[asjr]

4. Powell

had better get out while the gettin' is good. If he stays he may have to face war crimes after the Dems take over the WH. How he can look at himself in the mirror is beyond me. He has lost my respect and I don't see how he can have any self-respect. Just another warmonger.

[rman]

5. yeah, it's one of those known unknowns

the UN wasn't quick enough finding those darn weapons,
now we're in for perpetual search. in the east, west, north and south somewhat, right?

[KissMyAsscroft]

6. Yeah, tecnically....

it's unknown whether or not I'm the second coming of Christ.

Technically it's unknown whether or not I have magical powers.

[PurityOfEssence]

7. Izzums feewing a widdoe SNUBBED?

At the end of the State of the Union Address, Colin was standing there with his big, broad smile in the receiving line as Bush pointedly shook hands with people on either side of him. It was either colossal idiocy on Junior's part (always a possibility) or uncontainable disgust.

What is the matter with Powell? Does he really think these guys are ever going to let him play with them? Doesn't he realize what ignominy he's earned for himself? Is he just keeping up appearances to give himself an "out"? Is he concerned with keeping his little fascist son in good with the rest of the monarchists? It just don't make no sense nohow.

Go away. Go resign your post and retire to polite obscurity and write some ballyhooed memoirs to dispel the obvious. Blech. Feh.

[ScrewyRabbit]

9. He's just a guy without character

He said the hyped intel was bullshit at the time. Yet he went on to disgrace himself and the country in that speech at the UN. He's just an unrepentant liar like the rest of them.

[PurityOfEssence]

19. Yep, and a lackluster one at that

This mob is truly a bunch of second- and third-raters, with the odd exceptions here and there. Sad.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. Powell: brave, stupid or both?

""The open question is how many stocks they had, if any, and if they had any, where did they go. And if they didn't have any, then why wasn't that known beforehand?"

:wtf:

Seriously...does he not know that this kind of question can get him measured for the trunk of a '68 Buick at Rove Auto Body?

[Dr Fate]

10. Was it an "open question" BEFORE 500 troops died?

NO- Bush/media were POSITIVE that Saddam had "tons" of weapons.

Only now does Bush/media back-track and tell us "it's an open question"

Itwas NOT an "open question" before the war- we were told 100's & 100's of times that they most certainly existed, w/o a doubt...

[librechik]

11. When is this liar going to resign?

I thought he was the one of them that might have a conscience...

[amber dog democrat]

12. Powell is a US foreing policy whore

with no political credibiltiy or integrity.

I stopped listening to him after his shamefull speech to the UN last fall.
I guess he is finding out we can't have things both ways.

[dansolo]

13. "We know where they are"

The problem they have is they are too afraid to admit that they got duped by Chalabi.

[lumpy]

14. Backtracking from

a guy who stood before the UN and showed 'proof' that the Iraqis had WMDs ready to attack the US and were a threat to the entire world. He doesn't even have the guts to admit he was errant in spreading lies to the world. He has been a huge player in causing the deaths of untold thousands of Iraqis, the destruction of Iraq infrastructure and the loss of US prestige and integrity.

[monobrau]

15. Did he have any props this time?

Any charts or empty vials to demonstrate exactly what "No WMD" looks like?

And now for a flashback:
"25,000 liters of anthrax"
"38,000 liters of botulinum toxin"
"500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent"
"30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents"
"an advanced nuclear weapons development program"
"Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"
"he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons"

Thanks for the memories, assholes.

[UpInArms]

16. This story made the ABC Evening News

and they were none too kind to the colonoscopy.

[Malva Zebrina]

17. Powell is a complete tragedy

of course that depends upon if you viewed Powell as the "guiding light" of the Bush administration--the one with, you know, the sober and stable outlook who always repondded with absolute and total logic and non emotionalism.

I submit this whole perception over time of Powell has been a con game perpetrated on the American people. He , obviously was NEVER an intelligent analyst--he is, as is evident now, rather banal and he has become the "go along to get along" secretary of state that has no desk or papers or secretary. He is going along as an appendage--so he can retire in luxury and he knows it and he probably likes it, since he shows no inclination to change the perception of himself as a mere messenger boy for George Bush.

[diamond14]

18. Powell is in the country of Georgia...encouraging CIVIL war there

he should have stayed home rather than show that America is backing the installation of the new leader by attending the inauguration...Georgia is building an oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, which is destabilizing the entire area...

Powell has figuratively shot the starting gun for the civil war in Georgia...may he rot in hell....

[are_we_united_yet]

20. The open question is:

"Why the hell did I take this job?"

[indepat]

21. Is it an open question as to whether Powell has lied through his teeth?

[are_we_united_yet]

22. I don't think that question is open anymore.

[dfong63]

23. ok so there were no WMDs - do we really want the dems to nominate

... someone like Kerry or Edwards who voted for the IWR and the patriot act? someone who bought into the bush admin's lies? someone who is thereby unable to fully exploit this issue in november? it sounds to me like that would be a pure gift to the bush administration.

[daleo]

24. You can't prove a negative

Iraq couldn't prove a negative, so they used that as justification for the invasion.

Now, they can't prove a negative, so they are using that as justification for the invasion.

A sort of perverted consistency, anyway.

[Snappy]

25. Colin Powell- A LIAR!!!!!

"We had a good discussion, the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions -- the fact that the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction.

We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue." Colin Powell

When did Powell say this? February 24, 2001. More than a year before his presentation at the U.N., Powell knew that Saddam didn't have any WMDs and knew that Iraq wasn't a threat to its neighbors. He knew that the sanctions and inspections were working. He knew, when he gave his speech before the U.N. that everything he was saying was untrue.

[Moderator]

26. Dupe... locking

Please continue discussion within the original LBN thread regarding Powell's comments:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=329097

Thanks!

DU Moderator