Smoking Gun

[Eagler]

11 chemical shells found

what? saddam not being truthful? nah - must be a bush plot to start a war ...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.N. weapons inspectors found empty chemical warheads during an inspection of a storage area in Iraq on Thursday, a U.N. spokesman said in Baghdad.

The spokesman, Hiro Ueki, did not give any estimate of the significance of the find during an inspection of the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area. He said an inspection team had gone there to inspect a large group of bunkers constructed in the late 1990s.

"During the course of their inspection, the team discovered 11 empty 122 mm chemical warheads and one warhead that requires further evaluation," Ueki said in a statement.

"The warheads were in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq during the late 1980s. The team used portable X-Ray equipment to conduct preliminary analysis of one of the warheads and collected samples for chemical testing," the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi side.

[Ping]

Empty Shells Constitute Smoking Gun ?

Any Scuse will do.

[Dowding]

Big deal. North Korea can throw inspectors out, threaten war and re-initialise a nuclear weapons development program and no-one bats an eyelid.

Saddam is a threat. But he is a contained threat, for the time being. Let's deal with NK first, then Saddam.

Anyway Eagler, this is the mandate we've needed for action. This thing had to be done by the book.

[Midnight]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75748,00.html

Smoking gun, not really, but enough to prove Iraq is lying. Their 12,000+ page declaration said they have nothing. Eleven shells are more than nothing. I guess it is possible these items were overlooked, but that all depends on where they were actually found.

It would be better to not have to go to war, but I would rather the war be over there now instead of finding out Iraq had chemical weapons when one goes off in my back yard.

[AKIron]

Originally posted by Dowding
Big deal. North Korea can throw inspectors out, threaten war and re-initialise a nuclear weapons development program and no-one bats an eyelid.

If you think that there are no eyelashes being batted then you really are out of touch with reality.

[-tronski-]

bbc

"The warheads were in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq during the late 1980s," said Hiro Ueki.

He did not elaborate on the significance of the find, but the UN office in Baghdad has since told the BBC that they did not consider the discovery to be a "smoking gun" at the present time. "

 Tronsky

[Ping]

Bush doesn't read the BBC. Therefor its Schmokin Gun.

ATTACK

[Dowding]

If you think that there are no eyelashes being batted then you really are out of touch with reality.

Yes, and I may have been speaking relatively. Imagine the reaction if Saddam had done the same...

The amount of copy this latest thing will produce will pale that written about North Korea into insignificance.

[AKIron]

I'm sure it went something like this:

Sadaam to his generals: "Let's give those damn Americans no excuse and get rid of all our chemical and biological weapons. No sense in wasting anything that might be reused though, keep those delivery systems, we can use them to dispense fertilizer."

All very innocent I'm sure.

[weazel]

[AKIron]

Ya know Weazel, it's not just about oil. It's also about Israel. If it were up to me I would not have restrained Israel when they were attacked by Iraq. However, we did. Because of that alone I believe we are now responsible to Israel to ensure that Iraq is no better armed than it was 12 years ago.

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

Originally posted by Dowding
Saddam is a threat. But he is a contained threat, for the time being.

Not to the people surrounding him.... no different than North Korea... but Saddam's been a longer running problem.
-SW

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by Oedipus
I wasn't around in the 60's but did the Kennedy & Johnson administrations literally trip over themselves trying to get a bigger war going in Vietnam like Bush and Co. are obviously doing with Iraq?

[/B]

No, absolutely not.  Johnson was practically dragged kicking and screaming into Vietnam from the recorded conversations I've heard between him and McNamara.  There was a great deal of uncertainty around the Gulf of Tonkin incident, but Johnson pretty much felt he had no choice given what he knew at the time.  

That said, his micromanagement of the war effort once we got involved was atrocious and deserving of every bit of criticism that's been heaped upon it.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[weazel]

After all....they made it.

Originally posted by AKIron
Ya know Weazel, it's not just about oil. It's also about Israel. If it were up to me I would not have restrained Israel when they were attacked by Iraq. However, we did. Because of that alone I believe we are now responsible to Israel to ensure that Iraq is no better armed than it was 12 years ago.

[Ping]

Originally posted by AKS\/\/ulfe
Not to the people surrounding him.... no different than North Korea... but Saddam's been a longer running problem.
-SW

Longer Running problem???
Ever hear of The KOREAN WAR?