Comments on: W-M-Denial?

By: hydralisk

hydralisk — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:03:09 +0000

Funny. Recently on another blog I attempted (briefly) to argue that the Spectator speculation is *not* comparable to the "911 was an inside job" crap. While there is insufficient reason to believe either proposition, the former had at least enough possibility of maybe being true to have been acted on.

By: Re-Opening the WMD Debate? at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source.

Re-Opening the WMD Debate? at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source. — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:37:18 +0000

[...] article from the UK Spectator brought to our attention by Ron Coleman over at Dean’s World: You may be tempted to dismiss this as yet another dodgy claim from a [...]

By: double-plus-ungood

double-plus-ungood — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:04:41 +0000

Three years after the invasion, with Marines all over the place and undenied air supremacy, drones by the hundreds, and Iraqi allies, we still can’t keep that border all the way closed.

It’s one thing to prevent certain people from crossing the border, especially with the refugee traffic at the moment. It’s quite another to fail to detect hundreds of tons of munitions, equipment, and manufacturing and storage equipment being shipped across a border. Or even detecting the dozens of flights that would be required in a no-fly zone.

C’mon you guys, give it up. The argument reeks of desperation. Even if you ignore both the logistics of accomplishing this herculean smuggling task and excuse away all the many reasons why doing so was a very bad idea, you’re still left with a conspiracy of silence that must involve thousands of people, not one of whom is willing to talk for a large monetary reward.

These are also the same objections that I have to the “9/11 was an inside job” folks, but they won’t have any of it either.

By: Murdoc

Murdoc — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:47:53 +0000

Though not really a strong supporter of the “they shipped the WMD to Syria” theory, the “we were watching the border” theory is even more laughable.

C’mon, folks. Three years after the invasion, with Marines all over the place and undenied air supremacy, drones by the hundreds, and Iraqi allies, we still can’t keep that border all the way closed.

By: Ara Rubyan

Ara Rubyan — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:46:21 +0000

Hi Casey:

I agree with both your evaluation of the CIA and the current topic. All of it.

Great minds!

By: Ara Rubyan

Ara Rubyan — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:45:28 +0000

Ritter became something of a caricature of himself.

He’s an enigma for sure. But the fact remains: he was right.

By: soccer dad

soccer dad — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:23:28 +0000

This is the view of Israel’s former CoS Gen Yaalon.

Why smuggle them out before the war? Maybe because Saddam thought he could forestall the war by getting them out of the country. Saddam was not a great strategic thinker.

But there’s a whole problem with Scott Ritter, who, until sometime in 1998 insisted that Saddam had WMD’s and then became the biggest skeptic. What changed Ritter? He really hasn’t explained his change of heart; but rather become something of a caricature of himself.

By: double-plus-ungood

double-plus-ungood — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:12:06 +0000

DP, how about aircraft? The story as I heard back when involved a hollowed-out passenger plane that flew between the two countries before the war started.

I’m not sure that the weapons, the production facilities, all the research and production materials and documentation, and the thousands who must have worked on or with the weapons would fit inside even a fleet of hollowed out passenger planes.

By: Casey Tompkins

Casey Tompkins — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:42:00 +0000

Hi, Ara!

It was my impression that this operation was executed after the invasion was over, which tends to negate DP’s objection.

I agree with both your evaluation of the CIA and the current topic. All of it.

By: Ara Rubyan

Ara Rubyan — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:01:16 +0000

Can you document (I mean, with links, not primary sources) this claim, which I have not heard before, that the “border was being watched”? My understanding from this story — and a story it may be — is that there this watching was quite porous, which is entirely consistent with the fact that men and material flowed from Syria for many, many months following the invasion, as it still does from Iran.

On one hand, it would defy logic that the CIA wasn’t watching the exit doors in late 2002/early 2003.

On the other hand, this was the same CIA (headed by “Slam Dunk” Tenet) that OK’d Colin Powell’s presentation to the UN.

On balance, however, I’m skeptical of the smuggling story.

That said, Ron, you should hope it’s not true — because it would be a ginormous outrage to find out that Bush blew it. Again.