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by just thinking
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 4:13 AM
All of Iraq, from factories and mansions to government ministries, party headquarters, and military installations is being picked clean by looters. Why is there no US concern that critical evidence of WMD is being lost and destroyed?
The military stands idly by while crowds of Iraqi looters ransack official buildings and the homes of government officials, taking computers, destroying files and official records, and sometimes torching or dumping into the street whatever remains. Where the discovery of Saddam's elusive weapons of mass destruction is so important a part of any attempt to "justify" an international crime of almost unparalleled proportion, one would think that these potentially rich documentary resources would be carefully guarded and preserved pending detailed analysis by intelligence and weapons experts.
Never in the course of their existence did UNSCOM or UNMOVIC have access to such a limitless trove of official data, yet the fact is that some of their greatest successes were achieved not by the chance discovery of the weapons themselves or their means of production, but by plodding analysis of shipping manifests, production inventories, budgetary details, funding authorizations, staffing requirements, expense vouchers, and the thousand and one other mundane bureaucratic records that make major capital programs virtually impossible for governments to conceal.
Instead of protecting these sites for the evidentiary treasure they might contain (or even to prevent the destruction of important public records critical to the reestablishment of civil administration), the military's inaction is insuring that no records of anything will survive. Considering that in addition to the foregoing, the US/UK forces have a legal obligation to preserve important records, one is forced to wonder if so cavalier an attitude is more than just negligence.
At the end of World War II, one of the highest Allied priorities was the capture and preservation of Nazi and Japanese records. This has been true in virtually every war ever fought. Yet in Iraq - with so many of Saddam's secrets as yet unknown or unproven - the opposite seems to be true. Already we have seen the official focus purposefully shifted from "defending against weapons of mass destruction" to "liberating Iraq," and no credible evidence of WMD has yet been found. The apparent disinterest in preserving or analyzing potentially valuable Iraqi records suggests that the US and UK are not at all interested in resolving these unanswered questions - perhaps because they already know there's nothing to find. This conspicuous disinterest in any case supports the widely held and growing belief that "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were never the real issue at all, but mere pretext for the long-planned conquest of Iraq as the first step in establishing the US as the dominant force in the Middle East.
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by Jim
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 4:22 AM
They ignore the looting because they know that Iraq has no "weapons of mass destruction."
But that wasn't the reason why they invaded Iraq to begin with.
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by Warlphoost
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 4:30 AM
warlphoost@yahoo.com
Well, disarming Iraq of it's WMD's certainly WAS one of the reasons for invdaing Iraqistan- how else could it be a threat to the US? That's why we sent the UN Inspectors back before we devaded. I know this because our glorious leader has told me and my fellow Americans many times, so we won't forget.
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by x
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 4:31 AM
A definite advantage: if no records exist, then no "discovery" of WMD can ever be substantiated or verified. The US is free to plant whatever it wants without fear the "evidence" will be inconsistent with the documentary record.
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by daveman
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 7:07 AM
...there are WMDs. We SOLD them to him.
Make up your mind.
And yes, we're trying to stop the looting as much as we can. But we don't control the entire city; can't stop it when we're not there.
We want the looting stopped so that evidence, documents, etc. detailing WMDs, POWs, and other regime crimes are not lost.
Duh.
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by Eric
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 9:30 AM
when there's no Government in place. It's commonly called "anarchy". And it's what many of you IMCeepers keep chirping that you want.
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by amex
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 10:04 AM
>just thinking
Unsubstantiated Allegation.
>All of Iraq, from factories and mansions to government ministries, party headquarters, and military installations is being picked clean by looters. Why is there no US concern that critical evidence of WMD is being lost and destroyed?
This is priceless. People are looting and you're complaining that it's possible valuable documents are being picked clean, but if the military were to crack down on the people, you'd be crying they were enforcing a police state. The only thing you've proved is that if people want to find a reason to bitch and moan about America, they'll find something to latch onto.
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by daveman
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 11:36 AM
Amen. You hit the nail on the head.
And if they can't find anything to latch on to, they'll make up something.
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by Simple Simon
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 12:06 PM
Actually I'm quite enjoying watching the sheer number of posts harping on the "where are the WMD'S?" angle.
Wrong about everything so far, the desperate Left - watching their marches dwindle to insignifigance- clutches at whatever straws are left to grasp.
It will make the payoff all that much sweeter when they are found.
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