Officials: U.S. didn't find WMDs, despite claims

But then we already knew there were no weapons of mass destruction there before the war began.

Baldimo, you have a point: technically, those were weapons of mass destruction, even though they couldn't cause any mass destruction, and were produced in 1991. but touting them in conjunction with a debate about the Iraq war is disingenuous. no one has denied that Iraq had WMD in 1991; a stated objective of the war was to locate & destroy stockpiles of WMD created after 1991. that's why the administration knew about these munitions in april but said nothing, because they're not the WMD they were looking for.

Ah...this crap was in my Snopes com mail list as an email thing.....I didn't know that people who ought to know better were also in on it.

no, not at this moment. perhaps he ingeniously hid all the WMD by burying 500 here, 500 there, and so forth, or else a few of them weren't destroyed due to an oversight, and no harm was done, since their shelf-life had expired before 2003. supposing they were concealed, after all, do you propose scouring every inch of Iraq territory, looking for buried WMD that are probably inoperable?

That's about what I'd expect to hear from a Saddam apologist...

That's about what I'd expect to hear from a Saddam apologist...

Really? Seems that Saddam, as part of the cease fire agreement, was supposed to dispose of ALL WMD's and provide evidence that he had done so to the UN. Finding WMD's is evidence that Saddam had failed to meet those objectives.

Could you provide a link that backs up your statement?

The lawmakers pointed to an unclassified summary from a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center regarding 500 chemical munitions shells that had been buried near the Iranian border, and then long forgotten, by Iraqi troops during their eight-year war with Iran, which ended in 1988.

Offering the official administration response to FOX News, a senior Defense Department official pointed out that the chemical weapons were not in useable conditions.

"This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991," the official said, adding the munitions "are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war."

Lessee...If some kid digs up an arrowhead in his backyard, does that mean the local tribe is planning an uprising? Better call up the cavalry...

Calling what was found WMD's is incredibly misleading and false.

If I said to you, "Hey, lets go for a ride in my car!" and then I led you to a useless, rusted out shell of a 1956 Chevy, would you jump in? Or would you call "bullshit!"?

Baldimo is way past the point of reason, but you seem smart enough to tell hte difference, McG. You should know better than to buy into this crap.

In the lead up to war we got constant threats of "mushroom clouds" and nuclear capabilities, and the best Santorum can give us are worthless pre-1991 shells that were buried and forgotten about by Iraq.

Just an Obs:

Quote:

Calling what was found WMD's is incredibly misleading and false.

If I said to you, "Hey, lets go for a ride in my car!" and then I led you to a useless, rusted out shell of a 1956 Chevy, would you jump in? Or would you call "bullshit!"?

Baldimo is way past the point of reason, but you seem smart enough to tell hte difference, McG. You should know better than to buy into this crap.

In the lead up to war we got constant threats of "mushroom clouds" and nuclear capabilities, and the best Santorum can give us are worthless pre-1991 shells that were buried and forgotten about by Iraq.

I, like you, think McG smart enough to see the bullcrap. Problem is, he stands on a foundation of Bush lies and has to keep all the bricks in place to keep the whole pile from collapsing - its a common ailment these days, it seems.

McGentrix wrote:

That's about what I'd expect to hear from a Saddam apologist...

A truly reprehensible statement, McG. That's about what I'd expect from you.

Hey snood your a medic why don't you tell everyone what would happen if our troops came into contact with these WMD's.

Does the make up of these WMD's after a certain period of time just make them useless or would they still pose a threat. Don't play the left wing game either. Put on your SSgt hat and be honest. I want the info from an NCO.

Sarin has a relatively short shelf life, and will degrade after a period of several weeks to several months. The shelf life may be greatly shortened by impurities in precursor materials. According to the CIA [1], in 1989 the Iraqis destroyed 40 or more tons of sarin that had decomposed, and that some Iraqi sarin had a shelf life of only a few weeks owing mostly to impure precursors.

STABILITY: Stable at ambient temperatures. Decomposition temperature is 149 DEG C to 177 DEG C. Mustard is a persistent agent depending on pH and moisture, and has been known to remain active for up to three years in soil.