How many times have we been told that there were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it millions of times. I’ve read stories here and there over the last several years about WMDs being found, but of course it never got much news coverage – until now.
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The New York Times shockingly admitted in an explosive front page report that thousands of WMDs were found in Iraq since the start of the war:
From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.
In all, American troops secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, according to interviews with dozens of participants, Iraqi and American officials, and heavily redacted intelligence documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
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So, now it needs to be repeated millions of times: there WERE WMDs found in Iraq! But of course The Times couldn’t admit that their discovery vindicates President Bush. Instead they claim that these WMDs don’t count and that an active WMD program was the only rationale for the Iraq War:
The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support the government’s invasion rationale.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bush insisted that Mr. Hussein was hiding an active weapons of mass destruction program, in defiance of international will and at the world’s risk. United Nations inspectors said they could not find evidence for these claims.
Oh, really? Well, it sounds to me in UN Resolution 1441, adopted November 8, 2002, that there was concern about an active WMD program, but a key point of contention with Iraq in the decade after the 1991 Gulf War was the WMDs that had been left over (the ones The Times reports as being found during the Iraq War). Iraq had repeatedly refused to disarm and destroy its WMDs, even kicking out UN inspectors between 1998 and 2002. Some key excerpts from the resolution:
Deploring the fact that Iraq has not provided an accurate, full, final, and complete disclosure, as required by resolution 687 (1991), of all aspects of its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles with a range greater than one hundred and fifty kilometres, and of all holdings of such weapons, their components and production facilities and locations, as well as all other nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to nuclear-weapons-usable material …
3. Decides that, in order to begin to comply with its disarmament obligations, in addition to submitting the required biannual declarations, the Government of Iraq shall provide to UNMOVIC, the IAEA, and the Council, not later than 30 days from the date of this resolution, a currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles and dispersal systems designed for use on aircraft, including any holdings and precise locations of such weapons, components, sub-components, stocks of agents, and related material and equipment, the locations and work of its research, development and production facilities, as well as all other chemical, biological, and nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to weapon production or material; …
– UNMOVIC and the IAEA shall have the right to be provided by Iraq the names of all personnel currently and formerly associated with Iraq’s chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missile programmes and the associated research, development, and production facilities;
In President Bush’s speech to the UN on September 12, 2002, a huge chunk of his case was about Iraq violating its agreement to be transparent and disarm and destroy all WMDs after the Gulf War, maintaining stockpiles (like the thousands that The New York Times reported on!), improving facilities that could be used to produce WMDs, and not complying with UN weapons inspectors:
In 1991, the Iraqi regime agreed to destroy and stop developing all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, and to prove to the world it has done so by complying with rigorous inspections. Iraq has broken every aspect of this fundamental pledge.
From 1991 to 1995, the Iraqi regime said it had no biological weapons. After a senior official in its weapons program defected and exposed this lie, the regime admitted to producing tens of thousands of liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents for use with Scud warheads, aerial bombs, and aircraft spray tanks. U.N. inspectors believe Iraq has produced two to four times the amount of biological agents it declared, and has failed to account for more than three metric tons of material that could be used to produce biological weapons. Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
United Nations’ inspections also revealed that Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons. …
In 1991, Iraq promised U.N. inspectors immediate and unrestricted access to verify Iraq’s commitment to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles. Iraq broke this promise, spending seven years deceiving, evading, and harassing U.N. inspectors before ceasing cooperation entirely. Just months after the 1991 cease-fire, the Security Council twice renewed its demand that the Iraqi regime cooperate fully with inspectors, condemning Iraq’s serious violations of its obligations. The Security Council again renewed that demand in 1994, and twice more in 1996, deploring Iraq’s clear violations of its obligations. The Security Council renewed its demand three more times in 1997, citing flagrant violations; and three more times in 1998, calling Iraq’s behavior totally unacceptable. And in 1999, the demand was renewed yet again.
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On the eve of the Iraq War, President Bush laid out his case to the American people. Again, the focus was on disarmament and Iraq’s possession of WMDs:
My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned.
The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament. Over the years, U.N. weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed again and again — because we are not dealing with peaceful men.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq’s neighbors and against Iraq’s people.
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For The New York Times to say, “The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support the government’s invasion rationale,” is ridiculous. Now that the leftist claim that no WMDs were found in Iraq has become untenable, they are moving the goalposts again. They say these pre-Gulf War era WMDs don’t count, even though Saddam’s continued possession of these older ones was clearly used as a justification for war.
When Saddam said he destroyed all his WMDs from the Gulf War, we knew he was lying and still had stockpiles, and we were proven right when we found the thousands The New York Times reported. The left has now conveniently changed to saying that no NEW WMDs were found. As if the “old” chemical weapons that were found couldn’t have been put into the wrong hands by Saddam and used in a terrorist attack!
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The bottom line is: Weapons of mass destruction WERE found in Iraq. Debate the Iraq War all you want, but this should no longer be a point of contention.
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''The bottom line is: Weapons of mass destruction WERE found in Iraq.
Debate the Iraq War all you want, but this should no longer be a point
of contention.''
Is Fallacy.
Saudi Arabia, Koweit were afraid of Ayatollah Khomeini.
They paid Saddam to invade Iran, US supplied arms. Rumsfeld delivered poison Gas ''chemical weapon'' in person to Saddam. That's how he gassed the Shia who lived of the march-lands. Saddam had nomore WMD, he did not produce them.
Powell lied to UN to keep his job. Inspectors found no chemical weopons
Yeah, they found WMD. Ones that were decades old an proved that Saddam was no longer pursuing a WMD program. This is why the Bush administration never touted the fact that they were found.
buried degraded munitions that don’t have the capability to be used do not qualify as weapons of mass destruction. The only people who can be harmed by them are those who dig them up and handle them. They were rusted, leaky, inoperable devices. Your claim that WMD’s had been found as if they could be reclaimed and used is ludicrous.
American people were told by the then President that the reason for going to WAR in Iraq was WMD
So when they were found………………Why he hell did the American people NOT informed and updated…………….It is not a big deal classified information…………it was the CORE reason stated by the then President
Why do American people have to wait until New York Times writes about it years later………………….
wonder who NY Times is trying to please
The Bush administration’s own inspectors, in 2006, reported: “While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad’s desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.”
That some decade-old leftovers from Hussein’s military programs were still in existence comes nowhere close to justifying the rationale for an invasion, try as you might. The Bush administration’s need for a credible threat meant trumping up charges that Iraq had amassed a large arsenal of weapons of mass destruction – and that it was an imminent nuclear threat. Powell’s fabrications at the UN also included the utter falsity that Saddam Hussein had acquired yellow cake uranium from Niger.
1. There was no active biological weapons program; Hussein, albeit grudgingly, knew that UN inspections were the only way to remove sanctions that had been crippling Iraq’s economy since 1991.
2. There was no active nuclear weapons program (not since the 1980s–with the US’s help, mind you, to the tune of $500 million–had Iraq been planning a nuclear program), and Hussein had never acquired nor sought to acquire uranium from Niger, as it was alleged.
3. Iraq had no part in planning, equipping, or supporting the 9/11 attacks. Yet this was THE FOUNDATION of the Bush administration’s entire rationale for an invasion. Only during a 2006 address did Bush finally admit that no Iraq-9/11 connection existed: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/12/september11.usa2
So, to the angry mob who empowered one military monomaniac–resulting in the deaths of 500,000 Iraqis, not to mention thousands of Americans–and who still try to defend it, and who now seek to empower another military monomaniac in Trump, LEARN something from this history lesson. Stop being so pig-headed and blinded with rage that you can’t concede that the Iraq war was a $1.5 trillion dollar mistake that destroyed lives, and our place in the world.
When will you learn.
Oh please, let’s cut the crap. The tribe-first NYT was gung-ho in favor of that disastrous war. The day after a record-breaking DC demonstration against the war, the NYT and its dual-citizen traitors reported a mere “thousands” of demonstrators” and “fewer people…than organizers had said they hoped for.” In short, the NYT, along with most of our zio-media, WANTED war with Iraq. Why? Because Israel wanted it and Israel could not care less what impact that war had on the USA.
Question: Why is the Political Insider consistently giving support to this alien nation with its record of terrorism against America (google USS Liberty, the Lavon Affair) and its utterly self-interested America-be-damned policies?
Absolute rubbish… The Chillcott report was published this week and Blair has made public statements that say there were no weapons of mass destruction…
What’s even more forgotten is the fact that it was President Clinton’s adviser the President George W Bush kept that told him about the WMDs in IRAQ.
The iraqi boneheads were given over 10 years do dismantle and hide / sell all most of the stuff they did have , The UN (which in my opinion is worthless and should be dissolved) are the ones that made us give such a long time of sanctions and wait periods for them to hide the WMD’s. Yeah the crap they left behind was to play games saying , this is all we had , and you KNOW it’s not . there are over 3 tons of unaccounted materials used in WMD’s still ‘missing’ if you want to be dumb enough to believe that . If we could have gone in when the US originally wanted, we would have walked right into their manufacturing plants. why do you think Saddam was cowering in the ground in a hole hiding from US soldiers, he never knew what was found or not . and in different comment it said , there was no evidence , well if that is the case, then did anyone ever see osama bin ladens dead body ? no photos , no proof that he is dead !! i’d like to believe the SOB is gone , but is he???? NEXT:
Actually, the condition of all the WMD that were found would indicate that Bush DID lie. Bush and Cheney asserted that they were continuing to develop WMD. The only weapons found were old and degraded, therefore further evidence that there was no current program. Why else would the Bush administration not parade the discovery in public to justify the war?
When I saw the headline on Fox News this morning, I thought it was an April fools’ joke. The NYT admitting that there were WMD’s, and, by implication, Bush didn’t lie as they have been claiming for a decade. Most of Saddam’s chemical weapons were sent to the Assad regime in Syria, and now may be getting into the hands of ISIS. The bush haters are now trying to parse the issue in Clintonian doublespeak. The fact that Saddam had them and had used them against civilians is the operative fact. How old they were, how he got them are irrelevant. If you get gassed to death the source of the gas is meaningless. You’re dead. The US and UN said he had to get rid of WMD’s and he didn’t. Liberals lied, Bush told the truth. Eat crow.
The difference is that Bush was selling the American public on invasion and war on the idea that Saddam Hussein had *manufacturing* capabilities~ this is clearly what was hinted at by all this “weapons of mass destruction PROGRAM” {emphasis added} What Saddam actually HAD were weapons the UNITED STATES HAD SOLD TO HIM years ago during his 8 year war with Iran. There’s a BIG difference. IF you want to go by the definition you are trying to impose here, then you would have to say that ANY artillery round classifies as a “weapon of mass destruction”
See! It was all a lie! Why wasn’t there ever any visual proof?
If you actually have to ask that question, you’re the dumbest man on the planet!!! DUUUH!
This story keeps popping up every six months or so. The only WMDs they found were old artillery shells from WW1 and WW2 that still had some of the chemicals in them. The chemicals were useless as weapons. They also found the WMDs left over from the first gulf war that amounted to EMPTY chemical warheads with residue still in them. This is why the Bush admin never crowed about these findings. Are 500 empty and/or inert chemical warheads worth the lives of 3000 American troops?
The WMD were not on shelves and labeled
Right! Cause that would make sense!
Okay conservative geniuses, if the US went in and found what they were looking for, thus validating the reason for the invasion, why wouldn’t they announce such findings to the world instead of looking like the war-mongering clods they were?
This dude would claim an unexploded World War 2 Japanese grenade somebody stumbled upon in Fiji is proof the Japs are still slant-eyed lying evil bastards.
Oh, eff you. Seriously. It flatly states in the same story those chemical weapons long PRECEDED Bush’s excuse to invade. There was no active program. So did you read only a few paragraphs of the story, or are you intentionally trying to pull a fast one. Either way, you lose.
Nice try.
I have been listening and the news keeps saying these terrorists are from different countries, or have citizenship in other countries. Even someone from Brussels could be a terrorist or any of the other nations mentioned. We better put a “pause” on any refugee, not just Syria and Iraq. Besides if they really want to come here they can sneak in like the a lot of people do. We can’t assume they would try to come legally, any more than we can think if we had no guns, then neither would the bad guy. Just sayin…….
Conservative and Liberal media will take any oppertunity to do the (I told you so song and dance). This goes to show what are informative legit media outlets, and what are biased clowns telling you a story. I care just as much about “allegedly” WMD’s in the hands of Saddam, than the FBI being closer to finding Hoffa’s body. You would think the media would be more focused on current events, instead of brewing over the authenticity of an investigation that’s nearly 15 years old, and holds no relevance to the current state of Iraq. The Liberals can still argue that Bush jr had no business going after Saddam when we had the whole Islamic State to deal with first.
“saddam kicked out ALL un inspectors”
We had UN Inspectors in Iraq right up until Bush started the Invasion. They didn’t find anything.
There was nothing to find. Even the pre-accounted for Uranium stockpile Iraq possessed still had the UN seals on the vault when our Marines arrived.
un inspectors found nothing? hey dummies at The Times: saddam kicked out ALL un inspectors…they were never given full access to all sites suspected of harboring wmd’s including the active program still going on
Liberals are to stupid to understand concepts. They will only care when they personally are at risk! They deny ALL FACTS, ALL SCIENCE. They do NOT care bout’ the will of the people or majority rule. They are stupid! Mentally ill and totally corrupted by money they blame every one else for what they’re doing.
So, the Liberals are still using this to Bash bush… no weapons?? You forgot about chemical weapon.. it is HISTORY Halabja chemical attack?? What 7,000 to 10,000 is not mass enough for a liberal?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_chemical_attack
This article neglected to mention that chemical weapons were given to Saddam Hussein by Ronald Reagan and Donald Rumsfeld. Saddam used the chem weapons on the Kurds.
Assad & Saddam hated each other. Why didn’t we invade Syria then? I guess we decide who can have them & who can’t. Wasn’t Assad scared he would be invaded next after what happened to Saddam?
“They found some of the chemical weapons in Syria”
You sad, sad man. Syria DID have the facilities to make WMD, and they made their own.
This story that Iraq “smuggled” hundreds of tons of WMD out of the country at midnight on a single plane is a Conservative hoax, as is claiming that chemical weapons used in Syria originated with Iraq.
Those that will argue that there were no WMDs will say the Isis atrocities are not happening. They found some of the chemical weapons in Syria were they were used not too long ago. From what I remember besides the trucks there was a large plane tracked from Iraq that landed in Syria that was thought to have moved some there.
He should’ve killed every one of them.
Bush’s father new that it was not in the worlds best interest to destablize Iraq. At the end of the war the US could have left the professional military intact in Iraq to keep the country from breaking out into total chaos and to keep Iran in check. After the advice from are allies in the region to keep the military intact- the Bush administration chose not to so. This led to the loss of American lives and billions of wasted dollars with nothing to show for it but Islamic army armed with our weapons. A total cluster f. This void led to the total break down of he middle east. So even if they had WMD- the Bush Administration still screwed it up. This part of history you cannot rewrite.
“I did not have sex with that woman,I did not handle classified information on my serve and we will transform America is what we have heard from the left.”
There was no Classified information on Secretary Clinton’s server. She had a total ban on sending classified information via email. It was only sent via Courier with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
And yes, we intend to “transform America”… by putting it back the way it was before REAGAN changed everything.
I did not have sex with that woman,I did not handle classified information on my serve and we will transform America is what we have heard from the left. They ran their campaigns on the defamation of President Bush, hide information from Americans and many tucked the bait and voted Democrat twice, don’t make the same mistake again. America can not take one more hit, we need a good leader to take us out the hole we are in.
Forgive me if someone else posted but let’s not forget this was the beginning of the issue — however as we prematurely removed out forces from Iraq we now have a much bigger problem in ISIS to deal with…….
I missed it – what butt-kicking was that??
Jason I don’t think you know what a “Butt Kicking” is, but you will when the 8th Crusade starts.
Be honest after the butt kicking Conservatives have been getting this week yall are just looking for some feel good news.
Shame this is not that news. ;)
When Saddam Hussein’s Government fell, a forty truck Russian convoy went back to Russia b y way of Syria. What were they carrying and how did Syria have WMD s in later years?
welcome to politics. There was one report I remember of a solider opening a buried site in the desert and came down with symptoms. Later it was stated just herbicides. Mix a couple of these chemicals together you get chemical weapons. Certain forms can be mixed at use, stored long term in individual components, visualize something like tannerite…….learn http://www.cold-miner.com
The thing about the Muslim world is the Sunni–Shia hate each other until outsiders get involved and then they hate them. The weapons do exist and in the screwing around time of UN Weapons Inspectors waiting to reenter the country, they were moved. At the time, the CIA said, “Most probably to Syria.”, and lo and behold, SARIN gas used in Syria!
http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/337041/behind-60-minutes-decision-to-air-video-of-sarin-gas-victims-in-syria/
The more you attack George Bush, the more you look ignorant.
Your attempt to minimize this article is shameful. Why?
Because you try to claim that it was abandoned arms when of course when they found it they had been abandoned because Iraq had been occupied and Hussein removed from power for a long time by that time.
Of course ALSO the Mandate said that ALL MATERIALS were included that they were to be free of.
By your own admission Bush was correct.
He was hiding an actice weapons program AT THE TIME OF THE ACCUSATION! Of course it was not active after Saddam was removed from power as the Government no longer existed!!
It does not matter if they were old weapons or new weapons as they were not supposed to ahve ANY WMDs!!
So keep trying to act like the article was just a farce… Maybe you should try reading it before you make yourself look foolish?
Poppycock. Journalistic sensationalism at it’s best. The actual NYT article said the following (emphasis mine):
“Instead, American troops gradually found and ultimately suffered from the remnants of LONG-ABANDONED PROGRAMS, built in close collaboration with the West.”
And later states:
“After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bush insisted that Mr. Hussein was hiding an ACTIVE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROGRAM, in defiance of international will and at the world’s risk.”
These were old weapons that we knew about because we sold them to him! Donald Rumsfeld brokered the freaking deal. And our diplomatic policies and weapon inspection programs worked to keep these weapons pretty much useless.
The Iraq Invasion was a farce.
The March to War was NOT Over NUCLEAR WMDs!!!! It was over WMDs PERIOD.
Puh-leeeze! The march to war was over NUCLEAR WMD. We absolutely knew about the chemical weapons as we helped Saddam to get them during Iraq’s war with Iran. This “discovery” is bogus. Any attempt to justify a war with no justification costing trillions and murdering million(s).
When the issue of WMD arises, too many people strictly equate it with ‘bombs’ of some sort… not everyone is aware that it also incorporates deadly chemicals & toxins… it is ONE reason why there is so much misunderstanding about whether WMD’s were ‘found’ in Iraq or not.
They developed them with assistance and materials from a number of countries in the west including the USA, Germany, the UK, France. We knew damn well what he was doing as reference by declassified documents from various agencies and affidavits given later in the 1990s. Hussein had biological and chemical weapons and a sizable portion (although less than provided by Germany) of the materials needed to make those weapons came from the US with the tacit approval of the Reagan administration. We knew damn well he was using them against Iran and we supplied him anyway.
That is where the chemical weapons came from. We may not have baked the cake, but we certainly gave him the eggs and flour.
You Leftists are always trying to spin the truth. We did not give Iraq WMD’s!!!
Nor would we ever do that. They developed them.
Those articles from your leftists sources are meaningless as they give no facts. ALL speculation about weapons we did help them with when they were fighting Iran which were NOT WMD’s!!
You mean the WMD that the US government gave to Iraq to use against Iran in the Iran Iraq war. These have been reported on many times, found by UN inspectors and as well as the fact that through testing that they were part of the weapons we gave to Iraq, Im surprised you didnt bring up the trailers that Iraq had that were used to prepare these weapons for use.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/10/twelve-years-later-u-s-media-still-cant-get-iraqi-wmd-story-right/
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/15/no_bush_was_not_right_about_iraq_how_conservatives_misread_new_times_bombshell/
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/10/16/new-york-times-reports-wmd-found-in-iraq
wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war#Chemical_and_biological_exports
Everything necessary was provided by the West. From the science and technology, manufacturing, storage, raw materials, weaponizing and intelligence. You name it, the evidence is overwhelming.
theguardian(dot)com/world/2002/dec/31/iraq.politics
counterpunch(dot)org/2004/06/17/how-reagan-armed-saddam-with-chemical-weapons/
npr(dot)org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4859238
You are plainly delusional.
wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war#Chemical_and_biological_exports
Everything necessary was provided by the West. From the science and technology, manufacturing, storage, raw materials, weaponizing and intelligence, you name it, the evidence is overwhelming.
http://www.theguardian(dot)com/world/2002/dec/31/iraq.politics
http://www.counterpunch(dot)org/2004/06/17/how-reagan-armed-saddam-with-chemical-weapons/
http://www.npr(dot)org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4859238