Call me crazy, but I've always believed in the possibility that Saddam trucked his WMD out of Iraq before the Americans arrived. Moe Lane links to a report by Ryan Mauro of an ongoing investigation into this scenario. Excerpt:
It's not a fringe view!Satellite photos of a suspicious site in Syria are providing new support for the reporting of a Syrian journalist who briefly rocked the world with his reporting that Iraq’s WMD had been sent to three sites in Syria just before the invasion commenced.
The newspaper reveals that a 200 square-kilometer area in northwestern Syria has been photographed by satellites at the request of a Western intelligence agency at least 16 times, the most recent being taken in January. The site is near Masyaf, and it has at least five installations and hidden paths leading underneath the mountains. This supports the reporting of Nizar Nayouf, an award-winning Syrian journalist who said in 2004 that his sources confirmed that Saddam Hussein’s WMDs were in Syria.
Read the rest.The theory that Iraq’s WMD went to Syria is not a fringe conspiracy theory. John Loftus, a former Justice Department prosecutor known for his wide-ranging contacts in the intelligence community, said in an interview we did that “every senior member of a Western, European or Asian intelligence service whom I have ever met all agree that the Russians moved the last of the WMDs out of Iraq in the last few months before the war.”
General Tommy Franks and General Michael DeLong, the top two officials in CENTCOM when the invasion began, have spoken of credible intelligence supporting the theory. General James Clapper, President Obama’s pick to replace Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence, has previously stated his belief that the weapons went to Syria and took part in the meetings organized by Shaw.
Much more evidence exists that the WMD went to Syria, as documented here. Obviously, it is impossible to prove and we do not know exactly what went to Syria, but the history books on this issue shouldn’t be written just yet.
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This would certainly explain why we were so sure that they had WMD (a thing I did not doubt), and of course it's not a "fringe" theory. :)
ReplyDeleteThis always seemed a likely possibility.
ReplyDeleteIt struck me that though only a small amount of WMD's were found in Iraq, that did not preclude the possibility that Hussein or others that had an investment in them moved them to a secure location. Saddam ordered 125 of his aircraft to fly to the safety of Iran in 1991 (never to return), why would he not consider the same in 2003 with WMD? Or better yet, since WMD was a major reason the Bush administration was concerned with Iraq, why continue to boast that he had them? If it was just bluster, it proved to be a very poor bet. The man's two sons were blown to bits at their bachelor pad hideout, and the president himself ended up having to hole up to avoid capture, only to be caught, brought to trial and hung. If he really never had them, maybe he should have considered owning up to that. No one would hold it against him if it had turned out he had been lying to the world. Curious.
What was also curious was that GW never made an issue of it, even though there was significant evidence available at the time suggesting that the WMD that all intelligence services believed Iraq to have were in fact removed to a safe location out of the theater of operations? Was he attempting to confine the conflict to Iraq? Was he unwilling to use force against Russian technical personnel? Hard to say.
I have also suspected the WMD went to Syria. But, as long as Syria has the government it has, we will not know for sure.
ReplyDelete