Did you believe that Saddam had WMD.

[Darth Wong]

Did the government ever try to make the case that Iraq was in possession of nuclear weapons?

Were you sleeping for the last year? Do you remember the aluminum tubes? The screaming about yellowcake? The Bush Administration has been insisting for the last year that Saddam has a "nuclear weapons program" and is well along his way to developing a nuclear weapon. Fox News and every other idiot brigade was drawing up scenarios for a dirty bomb in Manhattan.

[Vympel]

Did the government ever try to make the case that Iraq was in possession of nuclear weapons?

Cheney: "we believe that he has, in fact, reconsituted nuclear weapons"

[Joe]

"Possession," not "attempted possession." I know it's not an enormous distinction.

[Darth Wong]

"Possession," not "attempted possession." I know it's not an enormous distinction.

Particularly not when it's being used as a justification for invasion. The nuclear threat, after all, was the one being touted as the real threat for Saddam to hurt the US.

[Joe]

Did the government ever try to make the case that Iraq was in possession of nuclear weapons?

Cheney: "we believe that he has, in fact, reconsituted nuclear weapons"

Many times in the same interview Cheney states that he does not believe Iraq is in possession of nuclear weapons, only attempting to do so. It appears that Cheney misspoke.

[Vympel]

I voted no, because I had the background knowledge (from some very easy research that anyone could've done if they could be bothered) that not only was Saddam not known to have anything (despite the claims to the contrary), it was only assumed that he still had the stuff that was "not accounted for", despite the following facts:

1. Testimony from a high-ranking, credible defector that it had all been destroyed (hot tip as to credibility: Saddam killed him for it). UNSCOM placed great value on this testimony. Note also that the US/UK, in making their case for war, used this defector as well- but conveniently left out the part where he said that the WMD had been destroyed. Strange, huh?

2. The fact that of all of Iraq's 'unaccoutned for' weapons, only approximately ~550 mustard gas shells and aerial bombs would still be viable (out of 13,000 shells confirmed destroyed)- and that has a high volume-to-effectiveness ratio anyay. Iraq's Sarin, Tabun, anthrax (produced in liquid slurry form) and VX would not be useable by now- that's de facto disarmament. VX, for example, had a useable life of only 8 weeks, according to UNMOVIC.

3. The extremely scary estimates of what Saddam hadn't 'accounted for' were sometimes not actually agreed to be either UNSCOM or UNMOVIC- the US would take the absolute parnaoid worst case scenario (i.e. facilities operating at 24/7, with no failed batches etc, despite no evidence that they did so) to calculate what Iraq *could* have made.

4. No evidence that Iraq produced anything in the intervening period between 1998-2002.

5. The nuclear weapons hysteria is quite well known by now, we need not go into their bullshit about uranium yellowcake and aluminum tubes.

[Vympel]

Did the government ever try to make the case that Iraq was in possession of nuclear weapons?

Cheney: "we believe that he has, in fact, reconsituted nuclear weapons"

Many times in the same interview Cheney states that he does not believe Iraq is in possession of nuclear weapons, only attempting to do so. It appears that Cheney misspoke.

Misspoke or not, he was wrong on attempting to do so as well, as the testimony from Iraqi scientists, and the uranium yellowcake/ aluminum tube falsehoods, and the IAEA's opinion, show.

[Solauren]

I voted yes because my choice was not there, so I picked the closest ones

Saddam never striked me as a stupid person. Trying to develop WMD while having most of the planet watching you like a hawk is not a smart thing to do.

I do believe he was arragant. He was trying to play a game with the United Nations, and more specifically the United States.

I think Saddam was trying to set things up so that when the UN sanctions were lifted and the inspections stopped, he could get back to work on his plans to dominate the Persian Gulf.

I honestly think he scrapped all his old weapons, and was trying to hide evidence he did it to appear strong in the Gulf region, but make it look like outside the region, that he had scrapped them.

And that backfired on him.

Do I think he was a threat? To the region: Yes. Globally: He had the potiental, but it would have to be very long term (i.e post UN watch dog)

Do I agree with the invasion? Not with how it was done, but I agree with removing him from power. His human rights violations speak for themselves.

[Durandal]

Of course, let's not forget Iraq's deadly population of endangered tigers, who are very stressed from the bombing that stopped over 3 months ago and will not hesitate to bite a person's arm if he sticks it inside the cage.

[Joe]

Of course, let's not forget Iraq's deadly population of endangered tigers, who are very stressed from the bombing that stopped over 3 months ago and will not hesitate to bite a person's arm if he sticks it inside the cage.

I think that topic should be taboo from now on, we don't need another 10 page thread on it.

[Enforcer Talen]

at the beginning, I didnt think it relevant. as the propaganda really started going, I thot we may find something. but we havent, so I am of the opinion it doesnt exist.

[SirNitram]

Of course, let's not forget Iraq's deadly population of endangered tigers, who are very stressed from the bombing that stopped over 3 months ago and will not hesitate to bite a person's arm if he sticks it inside the cage.

I think that topic should be taboo from now on, we don't need another 10 page thread on it.

If we taboo every topic that causes an utter moron to argue for ten pages, all that will be left is talking about ejaculation distance. We won't even have lesbian sex to talk about anymore.

[InnerBrat]

I voted 'no' because it was the closest to what I was actually thinking at the time.
To be honest, I had absolutely no idea, BUT I wanted more proof before going in. Proof that was never forthcoming.

[TheDarkling]

I thought he had something, nothing that could be considered a threat to anybody but at least some left over junk that could be trumped up after the fact to validate the invasion and looking at how Bush & Co went about things I think they probably thought the same as I.

[Stuart Mackey]

I vote no.
Befor this latest scrap, I thought he might have had some stuff left over from pre GW1 that was not usable as weapons and I though he might have had the ability to recreate the ability given that he had the things at an earlier date.

[Stuart Mackey]

I vote no.
Befor this latest scrap, I thought he might have had some stuff left over from pre GW1 that was not usable as weapons and I though he might have had the ability to recreate the ability given that he had the things at an earlier date.

*edit* I never thought he had nukes..would have liked to have some, but never had the ability to get them.

[Wicked Pilot]

At the beginning of GW2 did you believe the statements by GWB and TB that Saddam had WMD.

I don't believe anything Bush says simply because he says it. But in this case I did and still do believe there were chemical and biological weapons of some quanity left over. Their lack of discovery so far really doesn't concern me as Iraq is one big sand box in which to bury stuff, and I supported the war for other reasons.

[The Dark]

No. Bush's "facts" hadn't matched up with stuff I knew through relatives who were in GWI and from reading reports by UN officials. I called this an oil war when we discussed it in Ethics the day after the first missiles struck. I was fairly certain there were no WMDs.

[Iceberg]

I did in March. I don't now.

[AdmiralKanos]

I don't believe anything Bush says simply because he says it. But in this case I did and still do believe there were chemical and biological weapons of some quanity left over.

I knew he had chem/bio weapons at one time, so it seemed reasonable to surmise that he still had some. But when it became obvious how decrepit their infrastructure and military readiness were, I realized that they probably weren't able to preserve them properly.

[Wicked Pilot]

I knew he had chem/bio weapons at one time, so it seemed reasonable to surmise that he still had some. But when it became obvious how decrepit their infrastructure and military readiness were, I realized that they probably weren't able to preserve them properly.

I have to pleasure of personally knowing one of the former weapons inspectors, and am able to benefit from his stories and personal photos from Iraq. What he showed me from their nuclear program was pathetic. They were trying to cover up their posession of technology that was obselete back in the forties.

[Peregrin Toker]

I found it very possible that Iraq possessed chemical weapons, (Didn't they have chemical weapons during the first Gulf War??) but I seriously doubted that they had more nuclear weapons than experimental specimens.

[Wicked Pilot]

I found it very possible that Iraq possessed chemical weapons,

Of course they had them, they even used them against than Iranians and the Kurds, and they had a nuclear program. The million dollar question is what stockpiles they had left after the inspections, and whether or not they were still pursuing reasearch and production of said WMD.

[Alex Moon]

I found it very possible that Iraq possessed chemical weapons,

Of course they had them, they even used them against than Iranians and the Kurds, and they had a nuclear program. The million dollar question is what stockpiles they had left after the inspections, and whether or not they were still pursuing reasearch and production of said WMD.

Well according to David Kay

We have discovered dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002. The discovery of these deliberate concealment efforts have come about both through the admissions of Iraqi scientists and officials concerning information they deliberately withheld and through physical evidence of equipment and activities that ISG has discovered that should have been declared to the UN. Let me just give you a few examples of these concealment efforts, some of which I will elaborate on later:

* A clandestine network of laboratories and safehouses within the Iraqi Intelligence Service that contained equipment subject to UN monitoring and suitable for continuing CBW research.

* A prison laboratory complex, possibly used in human testing of BW agents, that Iraqi officials working to prepare for UN inspections were explicitly ordered not to declare to the UN.

* Reference strains of biological organisms concealed in a scientist's home, one of which can be used to produce biological weapons.

* New research on BW-applicable agents, Brucella and Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), and continuing work on ricin and aflatoxin were not declared to the UN.

* Documents and equipment, hidden in scientists' homes, that would have been useful in resuming uranium enrichment by centrifuge and electromagnetic isotope separation (EMIS).

* A line of UAVs not fully declared at an undeclared production facility and an admission that they had tested one of their declared UAVs out to a range of 500 km, 350 km beyond the permissible limit.

* Continuing covert capability to manufacture fuel propellant useful only for prohibited SCUD variant missiles, a capability that was maintained at least until the end of 2001 and that cooperating Iraqi scientists have said they were told to conceal from the UN.

* Plans and advanced design work for new long-range missiles with ranges up to at least 1000 km - well beyond the 150 km range limit imposed by the UN. Missiles of a 1000 km range would have allowed Iraq to threaten targets through out the Middle East, including Ankara, Cairo, and Abu Dhabi.

* Clandestine attempts between late-1999 and 2002 to obtain from North Korea technology related to 1,300 km range ballistic missiles --probably the No Dong -- 300 km range anti-ship cruise missiles, and other prohibited military equipment.

Personally, I thought there was always the possibility that Saddam had WMD. However, the bigger problem was that he never fully complied with the UN, and never seemed to give up his ambitions to obtain WMD.

[Lord Pounder]

At the time i swallowed Tony Blairs shit hook, like, sinker and copy of anglers weekley.

Today i feel like a fool for forgetting what a dishonest shit we have for a Prime Minister. Next election i'll be voting Conservative for this reason alone.