Hussein Admitted Creating Illusion WMD Program Still Existed

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Interrogator: Saddam surprised by U.S. attack

Iraqi leader expected bombing in 2003, but not invasion

updated 7:33 p.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 25, 2008

NEW YORK - Saddam Hussein allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction to deter rival Iran and did not think the United States would stage a major invasion, according to an FBI interrogator who questioned the Iraqi leader after his capture.

Saddam expected only a limited aerial attack by the United States and thought he could remain in control, the FBI special agent, George Piro, told CBS's "60 Minutes" program in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

"He told me he initially miscalculated ... President Bush's intentions," said Piro. "He thought the United States would retaliate with the same type of attack as we did in 1998 ... a four-day aerial attack."

"He survived that one and he was willing to accept that type of attack," Piro said.

In 2003, a close aide of Saddam's told The Associated Press that Saddam did not expect a U.S. invasion and deliberately kept the world guessing about his weapons program, although he already had gotten rid of it.

Keeping up the illusion of weapons program
Saddam publicly denied having unconventional weapons before the U.S. invasion, but prevented U.N. inspectors from working in the country from 1998 until 2002 and when they finally returned in November 2002, they often complained that Iraq wasn't fully cooperating.

Piro, a Lebanese-American who speaks Arabic, debriefed Saddam after he was found in an underground hideout near his home city north of Baghdad in December 2003, nine months after the U.S. invasion.

Piro said Saddam also said that he wanted to keep up the illusion that he had the program in part because he thought it would deter a likely Iranian invasion.

"For him, it was critical that he was seen as still the strong, defiant Saddam. He thought that (faking having the weapons) would prevent the Iranians from reinvading Iraq," Piro told Scott Pelley of "60 Minutes."

Piro added that Saddam had the intention of restarting an Iraqi weapons program at the time, and had engineers available for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Kuwait invasion after insult to Iraqi women
Piro also mentioned Saddam's revelation during questioning that what pushed him to invade Kuwait in 1990 was a dishonorable swipe at Iraqi women made by the Kuwaiti leader, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah.

During the buildup to the invasion, Iraq had accused Kuwait of flooding the world market with oil and demanded compensation for oil produced from a disputed area on the border of the two countries.

Piro said that Al Sabah told the foreign minister of Iraq during a discussion aimed at resolving some of those conflicts that "he would not stop doing what he was doing until he turned every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute. And that really sealed it for him, to invade Kuwait," said Piro.

MSNBC

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Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

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edgarblythe wrote:

Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not, including Bill Clinton. Interesting that Saddam Hussein was deliberately trying to create the impresssion that his former WMD programs were still extant. Also, how typical that you make this statement without the tiniest particle of supporting argument.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

edgarblythe wrote:
Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not, including Bill Clinton. Interesting that Saddam Hussein was deliberately trying to create the impresssion that his former WMD programs were still extant. Also, how typical that you make this statement without the tiniest particle of supporting argument.

You're right, I forgot Clinton invaded Iraq.

Wait a second...

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Gargamel wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
edgarblythe wrote:
Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not, including Bill Clinton. Interesting that Saddam Hussein was deliberately trying to create the impresssion that his former WMD programs were still extant. Also, how typical that you make this statement without the tiniest particle of supporting argument.

You're right, I forgot Clinton invaded Iraq.

Wait a second...

You're arguing against something I didn't say. That's the way incompetent people attempt to win debates. What I said was that Clinton believed that Saddam Hussein was a threat. Now, would you care to argue against something I actually said, or is that above your level of skill?

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Brandon9000 wrote:

edgarblythe wrote:
Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not

Ouch.

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I must be an idiot too because I interpreted your post as saying Clinton invaded iraq also.

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rabel22 wrote:

I must be an idiot too because I interpreted your post as saying Clinton invaded iraq also.

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rabel22 wrote:

I must be an idiot too because I interpreted your post as saying Clinton invaded iraq also.

Well, then, perhaps you are, since I simply included Bill Clinton among the people who couldn't see that Iraq was no threat. Be very, very sure to comment only about me and my wording and avoid any discussion of the article I posted.

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Brandon9000 wrote:

Well, then, perhaps you are, since I simply included Bill Clinton among the people who couldn't see that Iraq was no threat.

The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999. Following the mandate of UNSC Resolution 1441, UN inspectors returned to Iraq in November 2002.

Remind us, Brandon: when did Clinton leave office?

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old europe wrote:

Remind us, Brandon: when did Clinton leave office?

Yes, please remind us.

... it was a happy day.

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And with a bit of luck, you might get another happy day in five or nine years from now...

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This subject is about Saddam Hussain a contangerous criminal
embedded with American politicians( besides others) .
He was charged with many crimes and the first one was prooved,
while the rest remains unsolved.
Instead of impeaching the bad bed-fellows of thugs and criminals,
I beg the elected intellectuals in Iraq
to persue the rest of the charges levelled against Sadam.
So that decency prevails and
Decorum decorates our social, ethical, moral, intellectual life

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Brandon9000 wrote:

edgarblythe wrote:
Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not, including Bill Clinton. Interesting that Saddam Hussein was deliberately trying to create the impresssion that his former WMD programs were still extant. Also, how typical that you make this statement without the tiniest particle of supporting argument.

To quote you, nobody that disagrees with you has ever had a particle of evidence. Yet, it matters not whom you quote to buttress your dumb argument, most people knew better and many who went along with Bush were stampeded by the public hysteria, of which Bush contributed muchly to create.

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old europe wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
Well, then, perhaps you are, since I simply included Bill Clinton among the people who couldn't see that Iraq was no threat.

The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999. Following the mandate of UNSC Resolution 1441, UN inspectors returned to Iraq in November 2002.

Remind us, Brandon: when did Clinton leave office?

Irrelevant, since my only claim was that president Clinton felt that Saddam Hussein was a threat. I claimed this and nothing more. In 1998, Clinton said:

Quote:

Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war. Not only against soldiers, but against civilians, firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. And not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq.

The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.

CNN

Now, I know you're scared to discuss anything but the merits of opposing posters themselves, but how about taking the focus off the poster and discussing the contents of the post?

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From the 'State of the Union' Address

"Together, we must confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons and the outlaw states, terrorists, and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade and much of his nation's wealth not on providing for the Iraqi people but on developing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job finding and destroying more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the entire Gulf war. Now Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission.

"I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein, "You cannot defy the will of the world," and when I say to him, "You have used weapons of mass destruction before. We are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again."

President William Jefferson Clinton
January 27, 1998

(Got a standing ovation, too -- this part is on youtube)

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Brandon9000 wrote:

Now, I know you're scared to discuss anything but the merits of opposing posters themselves, but how about taking the focus off the poster and discussing the contents of the post?

Quote:

... George Piro, told CBS's "60 Minutes" program in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

That's tomorrow or was it last Sunday?

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edgarblythe wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
edgarblythe wrote:
Any idiot could see Iraq was not a threat to the USA.

Apparently, millions and millions of idiots did not, including Bill Clinton. Interesting that Saddam Hussein was deliberately trying to create the impresssion that his former WMD programs were still extant. Also, how typical that you make this statement without the tiniest particle of supporting argument.

To quote you, nobody that disagrees with you has ever had a particle of evidence. Yet, it matters not whom you quote to buttress your dumb argument, most people knew better and many who went along with Bush were stampeded by the public hysteria, of which Bush contributed muchly to create.

Your claim, which was, incidentally, not in response to any previous comment of mine in this post was that any idiot could see that Iraq was no threat to the US. You don't have a particle of evidence to support that position for the simple reason that you didn't even attempt to offer any support for it. No big surprise there. I would, indeed, expect you to do just this - "prove" your opinions with evidence like "any idiot could see."

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Key words:

Brandon9000 wrote:

left unchecked

There were weapons inspectors on the ground in Iraq in 2003.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:

Now, I know you're scared to discuss anything but the merits of opposing posters themselves, but how about taking the focus off the poster and discussing the contents of the post?

Quote:
... George Piro, told CBS's "60 Minutes" program in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

That's tomorrow or was it last Sunday?

I claimed that Clinton believed that Iraq was a threat. I then gave a quotation in which he stated that he believed that Iraq was a threat. I proved my claim. Your comment is irrelevant.

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Hussein Admitted Creating Illusion WMD Program Still Existed

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