Before Invading Iraq: Did you think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction?

[Free4Life11]

Yes I *thought* they had WMD's. I don't necessarily think that meant we should have to go to war though, as I believe every country has the right to defend themselves and manufacture weapons, just like the United States and many other countries do.

 

[mt2]

What ever happened to the 2 oil tankers that left Iraq weeks before the war started?

If I remember right (this was awhile ago), these 2 tankers were not flying under a flag of any country which is against maritime law (I believe).

They also never docked but were refueled by some Arab country (Syria?).

The U.S. Coast Guard didn't want to board the tanker because they were afraid of what could have been dumped into the oceans.

Like I said, this was a blurb in the news (at the beginning of it all) for about 2 days then dropped like a hot rock.

If Iraq had WMD, they had plenty of time to load them on the tankers, ship them to Syria, bury them, sprinkle them with sand to make them disappear, or do a "Bobby Ewing" it was just a dream sequence.

The US and the World spent months building up the troops in the area. Iraq wasn't caught off guard and Saddam is crazy not stupid.

I don't think I answered the Poll.

 

[Saxsoon]

I am not sure, but there is no doubt that he was a WMD. I heard of that too about the oil tankers. There was a post on here about it, but the over zealous people on this board just swept it under the carpet coming up with many excuses about it not being true.

 

[LauraR]

What ever happened to the 2 oil tankers that left Iraq weeks before the war started?

If I remember right (this was awhile ago), these 2 tankers were not flying under a flag of any country which is against maritime law (I believe).

They also never docked but were refueled by some Arab country (Syria?).

The U.S. Coast Guard didn't want to board the tanker because they were afraid of what could have been dumped into the oceans.

Like I said, this was a blurb in the news (at the beginning of it all) for about 2 days then dropped like a hot rock.

If Iraq had WMD, they had plenty of time to load them on the tankers, ship them to Syria, bury them, sprinkle them with sand to make them disappear, or do a "Bobby Ewing" it was just a dream sequence.

The US and the World spent months building up the troops in the area. Iraq wasn't caught off guard and Saddam is crazy not stupid.

I don't think I answered the Poll.

Hmm, I totally missed that. Wouldn't U.S. intelligence have been keeping a close eye on the tankers? And if there was a concern it carried WMD, why wouldn't the Navy (forget the Coast Guard) have boarded the ships? I mean, if we were willing to invade another country what would keep us from intercepting a few tankers? Would we really be more concerned with the environment than national security?

 

[Planogirl]

The current administration would have been watching the tankers and would have crowed loudly if they turned out to be carrying anything of interest. JMHO.

 

[Saxsoon]

I know this is from the Daily Show, but they do report news with a side of humor.

A general, the number two man in the Iraqi Air Force recently made a book I believe called Saddam's Secrets. He verified that he saw the WMD with his own eyes, and talked to the men who got the weapons to Syria. Like I said this was an interview on the DS, but he was advertising his new book. It shall be interesting to see in the future how this plays out. On a side note, almost all of the people that were with Saddam were relieved when Saddam was finally captured.

 

[jocon]

I did believe our President and I am not a Republican. He used our memories of 9-11 to get his way and I fell for it. I learned my lesson.
Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, uh,umm, ahh, you're not gonna
feel me again.

 

[mt2]

Hmm, I totally missed that. Wouldn't U.S. intelligence have been keeping a close eye on the tankers? And if there was a concern it carried WMD, why wouldn't the Navy (forget the Coast Guard) have boarded the ships? I mean, if we were willing to invade another country what would keep us from intercepting a few tankers? Would we really be more concerned with the environment than national security?

If I remember correctly, the US Coast Guard is the only service allowed to inspect international ships. We have a friend that actually did this in the last 1980's/early 90's. He was stationed on a Navy ship but he was the lead on any/all inspections of foreign vessels. Whether that is still protocol or not I don't know.

I remember seeing/reading (the ticker tape thing at the bottom of the screen) on either CNN or MSNBC. It was mentioned a couple of times then it just dropped off the news completely.

I don't know what was in the tankers. I am very curious.

 

[lw49033]

Do you think Israel is going to hit us with a nuclear weapon?

I don't particularly think anyone is going to hit us with a nuclear weapon anytime very soon, but if they do, our obsession with Israel will probably have been at least 80% of the reason.

Saddam didn't use CW in 1991 that were already deployed and ready to fly. So the idea that he would nuke the United States is so absurd that it doesn't deserve to be answered.

 

[georgina]

No because I do not believe anything that comes out of Bush's mouth.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I have read a LOT on this subject. What it really seems like is that Saddam WANTED the world to think he had them. Even his generals believed that he had them up until the war actually started. He had to tell THEM that he didn't have them because they wanted to be able to use them if it came to that.

Bad move on Saddam's part.

 

[Pigeon]

No, I most emphatically did not think he had them. If we had concrete evidence that he did have them, Bush would have had a whole lot more definitive info. I read and heard numerous interviews with Scott Ritter, and if anyone would know, he would.

 

[Charade]

I believed they had them and I'm not fully convinced there aren't some stashed away under the sand somewhere (remember, we found fighter jets buried in the sand). The administration was very convincing. But I do not feel duped. Many foreign intelligence agencies believed they had them as did many a political figure in the previous administration up to the late 90's. The quotes from them abound but I don't think I've seen them reported in the msm.

Interestingly, official US policy for regime change in Iraq was not developed after Bush came to the Whitehouse. That happened during the Clinton administration. What did that actually mean? Who knows. It's a little late now.

But the amazing thing is all of the misinformation that people used to develop their opinions of Iraq, WMDs, 9-11, etc. No one in the administration ever said that Iraq had any direct involvement in the attacks on 9-11. I think people get tripped up on the link between the fight against terrorism and the role that Iraq could have played if they actually had WMDs. Iraq was involved in supporting terrorist organizations. That is a fact.

One can find "expert" after "expert" that say he did and other "experts" said he didn't.

So unless you believe that it was all based on lies, for the oil (where is it???? and why is gas still $2.50 a gallon??), revenge for SH attempting to assassinate his "pappy", why would we go in unless we believed he did and to get them out of his hands was crucial to keeping them from other terrorists.

 

[mariolatry]

I would've staked my life on the fact that Iraq did NOT have WMD.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

I have read a LOT on this subject. What it really seems like is that Saddam WANTED the world to think he had them. Even his generals believed that he had them up until the war actually started. He had to tell THEM that he didn't have them because they wanted to be able to use them if it came to that.

Bad move on Saddam's part.

Excellent points, Papa Deuce.

 

[Cyndiu]

I would've staked my life on the fact that Iraq did NOT have WMD.

Maybe not my life, but something important anyway!

 

[lw49033]

So unless you believe that it was all based on lies, for the oil (where is it???? and why is gas still $2.50 a gallon??), revenge for SH attempting to assassinate his "pappy", why would we go in unless we believed he did and to get them out of his hands was crucial to keeping them from other terrorists.

It wasn't the oil, it was that the Israel defense fanatics had been pushing to move against Iraq way before 9/11.

 

[Charade]

It wasn't the oil, it was that the Israel defense fanatics had been pushing to move against Iraq way before 9/11.

Who are "they" and how "way" before 9-11?

 

[VSL]

I was never sure about whether they had WMD's, but I was very skeptical about the whole '45mins' thing.

Also, I don't know about Bush, but I'm pretty sure Blair has admitted that he was wrong - or something like that.

 

[simpilotswife]

Sounds like someone has a problem with Israel.


I did not believe that Iraq had WMDs. If they had they would have already used them.