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The funny thing about that conspiracy is that the WMD were real. Hussein had them, and and its true that he didn't give them up, and he refused access. Here's

The funny thing about that conspiracy is that the WMD were real. Hussein had them, and and its true that he didn't give them up, and he refused access. Here's the but: they were found by the US, under seal exactly in the place of record according to the UN. It's pretty clear that Hussein wasn't actively developing it anymore. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25546334 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25546334

SiempreViernes 7y ago
Um, the article talks about the removal of an unrefined ingredient for a weapon, not exactly finished weapons.
- deleted 7y ago
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- dnautics 7y ago
  Yes, the pre invasion claim made to the UN was that Iraq was in violation of its obligation to allow inspectors in to monitor its WMD program. I'm not justifying the actions of the administration or even the legal basis for it, but per my understanding, the claims were not untrue, notwithstanding how it was sold to the us public (especially as filtered by the complicit media)
temac 7y ago
Your source for the belief tha Iraq had WMD is an article explaining they had yellowcake? Even a youtuber made some and processed it (and this was completely legal)
- dnautics 7y ago
  Yes? That was, after all, concretely the claim made by the administration before the invasion (recall the joke by Dave Chappelle about yellow cake) There's also plenty of evidence that Iraq had (known, small) stockpiles of chemical weapons, too (last I checked those were classed as WMD), which are widely accepted to be a likely cause of gulf war syndrome and a contributing factor to congenital disease in some parts of iraq. Mind you: I'm not claiming that it's ethical to invade a country on shoddy pretenses.
  - temac 7y ago
    If you are thinking about the fear of contraband imports of yellowcake, well none of that has ever been found and its highly unlikely to have existed. The removed yellowcake had been stockpiled prior to the first Gulf War, and was declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency and under IAEA safeguards. Of course at one old point Iraq had WMD programs. But you were completely misrepresenting the situation by stating for the later period that "The funny thing about that conspiracy is that the WMD were real. Hussein had them, and and its true that he didn't give them up". Even the very article you linked stated clearly: "There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said." As for the small amount of chemical weapons or precursors, they also have not been interpreted afterwhile has having any significance regarding the willingness to comply.
blaser-waffle 7y ago
Saddam had chemical weapons and actively used them on the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War, and later against the Kurds. Saddam also received considerable material support from the US during the Iran-Iraq War -- those pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand aren't fake. Lots of jokes about "we knew Saddam had WMDs cuz we gave em to him!" were, to a degree, credible on paper. Saddam had long since stopped working on them, but made a point to look like he was. This allowed him to drum up support by posturing like he was standing up to the US, and also to look threatening to the Iranians (plus the Kurds + Shias).

SiempreViernes 7y ago

Um, the article talks about the removal of an unrefined ingredient for a weapon, not exactly finished weapons.

deleted 7y ago
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dnautics 7y ago
Yes, the pre invasion claim made to the UN was that Iraq was in violation of its obligation to allow inspectors in to monitor its WMD program. I'm not justifying the actions of the administration or even the legal basis for it, but per my understanding, the claims were not untrue, notwithstanding how it was sold to the us public (especially as filtered by the complicit media)

temac 7y ago

Your source for the belief tha Iraq had WMD is an article explaining they had yellowcake? Even a youtuber made some and processed it (and this was completely legal)

dnautics 7y ago
Yes? That was, after all, concretely the claim made by the administration before the invasion (recall the joke by Dave Chappelle about yellow cake) There's also plenty of evidence that Iraq had (known, small) stockpiles of chemical weapons, too (last I checked those were classed as WMD), which are widely accepted to be a likely cause of gulf war syndrome and a contributing factor to congenital disease in some parts of iraq. Mind you: I'm not claiming that it's ethical to invade a country on shoddy pretenses.
- temac 7y ago
  If you are thinking about the fear of contraband imports of yellowcake, well none of that has ever been found and its highly unlikely to have existed. The removed yellowcake had been stockpiled prior to the first Gulf War, and was declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency and under IAEA safeguards. Of course at one old point Iraq had WMD programs. But you were completely misrepresenting the situation by stating for the later period that "The funny thing about that conspiracy is that the WMD were real. Hussein had them, and and its true that he didn't give them up". Even the very article you linked stated clearly: "There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said." As for the small amount of chemical weapons or precursors, they also have not been interpreted afterwhile has having any significance regarding the willingness to comply.

blaser-waffle 7y ago

Saddam had chemical weapons and actively used them on the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War, and later against the Kurds. Saddam also received considerable material support from the US during the Iran-Iraq War -- those pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand aren't fake. Lots of jokes about "we knew Saddam had WMDs cuz we gave em to him!" were, to a degree, credible on paper. Saddam had long since stopped working on them, but made a point to look like he was. This allowed him to drum up support by posturing like he was standing up to the US, and also to look threatening to the Iranians (plus the Kurds + Shias).