Aide: Saddam Did Get Rid of Iraq WMD

[peterh]

<http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/6439280.htm>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A close aide to Saddam Hussein says the Iraqi dictator did in fact get rid of his weapons of mass destruction but deliberately kept the world guessing about it an effort to divide the international community and stave off a U.S. invasion.
The strategy, which turned out to be a serious miscalculation, was designed to make the Iraqi dictator look strong in the eyes of the Arab world, while countries such as France and Russia were wary of joining an American-led attack. At the same time, Saddam retained the technical know-how and brain power to restart the programs at any time.
Both Pentagon officials and weapons experts are considering this guessing-game theory as the search for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons continues. If true, it would indicate there was no imminent unconventional weapons threat from Iraq, an argument President Bush used to go to war.


I think both sides could really spin this one, especially the chimp….see he really had them, but wouldn’t tell us that he got rid of them….but, the bottom line is still, to borrow a line form Ted Rall…you’re suppose to find the WMD before the war, silly rabbit!!!

[Guaranteed]

1. Actually, he DID say he didn't have any....

But, of course, Bush didn't believe him and invaded anyway. Go figure! Of course, he prolly DID figure that...which is why he played it the way he did.

[expatriot]

2. man, he misunderestimated Bush.... this could explain why Baghdad was...

... so ill-prepared for a serious defense. Saddam was not getting ready for war. I mean if Saddam thought he it was going to end in war, could you imagine what he could have done to prepare Baghdad.... tank traps, made sure all overpasses and bridges could be completely demolished by remote control, etc.

[hippiechick]

5. oh, he expected war ....

... but what better way to make the former employer (BFEE) look like a giant bunch of buttholes than to sit meekly by while the big bad tanks and bombs destroy your cities and kill your children ?

... once again, Bush was outthunk because the US still looks like baseless instigators to the rest of the world as Iraq lay in ruins ...


:hippie:

[cosmicdot]

3. "The official refused to be identified,"

all of these unindentified people here and abroad hardly lend credence to anything - it's hearsay otherwise

I'm sure Saddam has no idea who is "close" aides are/were ...

[okieinpain]

4. maybe this is why bushco are using the programs of WMD now

.

[Rose Siding]

6. This looks like the truth to me but

BushCo, with ANY real intel would have known it.

To "look strong in the eyes of the Arab world" is an obvious motive for Saddam to have been less than forthright about what he had available.

[indictrichardperle]

7. i dont even believe that

who is this anonymous aide ? fictional ? was he "treated sort of rough" to get the answers we wanted ?

In reality, just like Scott Ritter we knew he was dis-armed....that was verifiable from unscom.....the neo-cons liars said "prove they dont exist". Notice the spin "he could re-constitute his programs at any time"....Bullshit, not unless we sold it to him again.

[joshcryer]

8. There were several reports before the war debunking the WMD...

...myth. We all know. The international community knew. The only people who didn't know were the propaganized American populace.

[vixengrl]

9. My problem with this is--Saddam really didn't think *

wanted to go to war? After Bush 1 used the Kuwait invasion (winked at when it was a mere threat) after much chest thumping and the rumor of Iraqi forces massing along the Saudi border as an excuse to shed the "wimp" role, the idea that he was being kept on the leash as a whiping boy should have been clear enough. And Dubya and his admin (mostly the same folks, and a few worse) would *have* to use the same strategery. It's not like they have any thing else. The war on Terror had to become a War on Saddam because the intell could not *help* but show Saddam as a threat. Osama and co. are more mobile. BUsh and co., for whatever reason, hadn't, or couldn't catch him. Bush knew where Saddam was. Where the WMD's were? This admin does not feel the need to look so far ahead. They believe they have a pass.

If anything, I suspect it was the other way around--Saddam to save face even if he had jack squat might have kept the rumor that there was *something* just to try and hold the inevitable at arm's length. Bio weapons are scary, and he might have thought that gamble worth it. HIs mouth said "No, no", but any delays with the inspectors suggested, "yes,yes". And maybe--"Invade and we'll hit a few thou of your folks with the never-get-overs."

But c'mon, after all the Cold War surviellance gadgetry and whatnot we have, Saddam can unload WMD's under the cover of dark and we don't know? Yeah, please!

[StandWatie]

11. it's bullshit

He got rid of everything a long time ago thinking that the US/UK were serious about lifting sanctions but he was disabused of that notion long ago. These weapons programs weren't reconstituted because it just wasn't a priority but for a number of strategic and political reasons revealing that he had entered upon this course wasn't a good course of action.

He knew damn well Bush meant to invade and I'm sure down to the bottom of his black soul he had held on to all that stuff somehow because he could have stopped Bush with it. A massive chem strike on the US unsuspecting armada and Kuwait would have ended the whole thing.

[wyldwolf]

10. You mean... he got rid of them while CLINTON was president?

Oh, the irony!

[laconicsax]

12. Of course...it's Clinton's fault

his penis hid that intelligence from *.