I be willing to bet that my knowledge and experience with biological/chemical and nuclear weapons far surpasses yours.
Ogami said:
Anyone who claims WMD was the sole reason for removing Saddam Hussein wasn't paying attention.
-Ogami
Yes. And Bush knew that as well. That’s why he manufactured and or exaggerated all the “intelligence” that he claimed they had linking Iraq to Al Qeada and 9/11. After 12 years of weapons inspections, failed and accomplished, it would have been impossible for Bush to launch an attack against Iraq on the claim of WMD’s alone.
Lie #1--They Attacked Us: Iraq Supported Al Qaeda.
Fact: Bush finally admitted half a year after the invasion that there was no evidence Saddam Hussein's Iraq had any links to the 9/11 attacks, undermining eighteen months of implying the exact opposite. Yet in a brief and rather reserved statement after Saddam's capture and his macho 2004 State of the Union address--Bush again dished out the fundamental lie that the war and occupation of Iraq can reasonably be linked to the "war on terror."
Lies #2--Imminent Threats: Iraq's Bio-Chem and Nuclear Weapons Programs.
Fact: A year after using his 2003 State of the Union address to paint Iraq's allegedly vast arsenal of WMD as a grave threat to the United States and the world, days later, chief US weapons inspector David Kay quit and began telling the world what the Bush Administration had been denying since taking office: that Saddam Hussein's regime was but a weak shadow of the semi-fearsome military force it had been at the time of the first Gulf War thirteen years ago; that it had no significant chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs or stockpiles still in place
Lie #3--It Will Be Easy: Iraq as a "Cakewalk."
Fact: Three years and 74,000 dead or injured pretty much explains what a big lie that was.
Lie #4--There's overwhelming evidence there was a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very confident that there was an established relationship there." - Vice President Cheney, 1/22/04
Fact: According to documents, "Saddam Hussein warned his Iraqi supporters to be wary of joining forces with foreign Arab fighters entering Iraq to battle U.S. troops. The document provides another piece of evidence challenging the Bush administration contention of close cooperation between Saddam's regime and al Qaeda terrorists." [NY Times, 1/15/04]
Lie #5--The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction. President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03
Lie #6--"CIA interrogators have already elicited from the top Al Qaeda officials in custody that, before the American-led invasion, Osama bin Laden had rejected entreaties from some of his lieutenants to work jointly with Saddam." [NY Times, 1/15/04]
Lie #7--Iraq (is) the central front in the war on terror. President Bush's UN speech, 9/23/03
Fact: "Sec. of State Colin Powell conceded Thursday that despite his assertions to the United Nations last year, he had no 'smoking gun' proof of a link between the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and terrorists of Al Qaeda. “I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection,” Powell said." [NY Times, 1/9/04]
Lie #8--There's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al Qaeda ties. President Bush, 9/17/03
Fact: Three former Bush Administration officials who worked on intelligence and national security issues said the prewar evidence tying Al Qaeda was tenuous, exaggerated and often at odds with the conclusions of key intelligence agencies. [National Journal, 8/9/03]
Lie #9--There was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Vice President Cheney, 9/14/03
Fact: Declassified documents undercut Bush administration claims before the war that Hussein had links to Al Qaeda. [LA Times, 7/19/03].
Fact: The chairman of the monitoring group appointed by the United Nations Security Council to track Al Qaeda told reporters that his team had found no evidence linking Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein. [NY Times, 6/27/03]
Fact: "U.S. allies have found no links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. 'We have found no evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda,' said Europe's top investigator. 'If there were such links, we would have found them. But we have found no serious connections whatsoever.'" [LA Times, 11/4/02]
Lie #10--We have never claimed that Saddam Hussein ... had either direction or control of 9/11. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 9/16/03
Fact: President Bush sent a letter to Congress on 3/19/03 saying that the Iraq war was permitted specifically under legislation that authorized force against nations, organizations, or persons, who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Fact: Vice President Cheney said on 9/14/03 I think it's not surprising that people make that connection between Saddam and 9/11- with no evidence to back up his claim.
Fact: Two days after Cheney made that statement, Reuters reported on 9/18/03 that President Bush distanced himself from the comments.
Lie #11--We found the weapons of mass destruction. President Bush, 5/29/03
Lie #12--"We know where the WMDs are. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 3/30/03
Fact: No WMD have been found. According to Reuters on 9/15/03, the Administration's hand picked weapons inspector has come up with no WMD on his visit to Iraq. A draft report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq provides no solid evidence that Iraq had such arms when the United States invaded the country in March. (Note: the chemical weapons Bush was referring to at the time never materialized.)
Lie #13--The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. President Bush, 3/19/03
Fact: Despite the claim that Iraq's supposed WMD posed an imminent threat to the U.S., Secretary of State Colin Powell said on 2/24/01 that Saddam Hussein has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction.
Lie #14--The president knew that [Iraq] was a threat. - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 9/24/03
Fact: Vice President Cheney said on 9/16/01 that Saddam Hussein was not a threat. He said, “Saddam Hussein is bottled up.”
Lie #15--The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. President Bush, 1/28/03
Fact: On 7/8/03, the W. Post reported the Administration admitted the Iraq-Nuclear allegation was false. Revelations by officials at the CIA, the State Department, the UN, in Congress and elsewhere made clear that the White House knew the claim was false before making the allegation [7/20/03]. In fact, CIA Director George Tenet successfully intervened with White House officials to have the reference removed from a Bush speech in Oct. of 2002. [W. Post, 7/13/03]
Lie #16--We believe Saddam has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. Vice President Cheney, 3/16/03
Fact: The UN reported on 9/8/03 that Iraq was not capable of pursuing an active nuclear weapons program after 1991. The report said, "No indication of post-1991 weaponization activities was uncovered in Iraq.
Fact: Voice of America reported on 9/16/03 that, a senior official in Iraq's new science ministry says the country never revived its nuclear program after inspectors dismantled it in the 1990's. The scientist, now a member of the U.S.-backed administration in Iraq, says Iraqi scientists had no way to re-start the program because the inspectors took away all the necessary resources
