Canada Believes Saddam Had WMD

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/05/11/pf-455210.html In a speech this week that has received precious little media attention (especially considering the frenzy surrounding Abu Ghraib), Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that he believes Saddam Hussein possessed biological, chemical and nuclear WMD, which have now fallen into terrorist hands. "The fact is that there is now, we know well, a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and that many weapons that Saddam Hussein had, we don't know where they are," Martin told university researchers and business leaders in Montreal on Sunday. "That means terrorists have access to all of that."

Saying that the threat leveled against the West is even greater now than in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Martin continued, "I believe that terrorism will be, for our generation, what the Cold War was to generations that preceded us," he said. "I don't think we're out of it yet." Equally bold, Martin took direct aim at his predecessor, consummate braying Jacque-ass Jean Chrétien, who infamously identified the root of terrorism and the 9/11 attacks as poverty. "The cause of terrorism is not poverty," rebutted Martin, "it is hatred."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/politics/12syri.html?ex=1085112000&
;en=38c2627888103552&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1
Wednesday, President Bush enacted sanctions against Syria for its collaboration with terrorist insurgents against the U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq. Calling the "unusual and extraordinary threat" posed by Syria a "national emergency," Mr. Bush said of the Syrian Accountability Act, "Despite many months of diplomatic efforts to convince the Government of Syria to change its behavior, Syria has not taken significant, concrete steps to address the full range of U.S. concerns." Syria, you recall was the source of WMD recently recovered in Jordan -- WMD that Syria did not have the capability to produce -- WMD which, we suspect, originated in Iraq.

Whats the point to this thread?

hmm i thought it was already understood that there were many WMD floating around out there... related to 9/11 or not...

The scenario: U.S. launches attack on Iraq.
The phone call:
T. - Hello, Saddam?
S. - Yes, who is this?
T. - You remember you and I attended a seminar on terrorism in Syria last year. Well, now that the U.S. is attacking you and you don't want to be caught with the WMDs I thought maybe you would let me have them. I'll hide them outside Iraq until we embarass the U.S. in the eyes of the world. Then I'll give them back, OR, if you lose, Oh Allah NO, I'll grab a bio-rocket under each arm and run quickly across the border to Las Vegas and destroy the Americans where they live - in the casinos and brothels!
S. - Who is this? Is this a crank call? How do you know I have any WMDs?
T. - President Bush said you have them!
S. - But the report I turned in details how I destroyed them all! It was filed with the U.N. to ensure our safety. Bush is making up the story to further his own ends.
T. - We know you wouldn't destroy those weapons. They are the only thing that allows you to sleep at night safe from the Iraqui women and children.

Come on, get real. The only WMDs to have been in Iraq in the last 24 months are Bush, Rumsfeld and Powell.

The Canadians weren't the ONLY ones who believed it:

- President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998: "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop WMDs and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."

- Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998: "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's WMD program."

- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Feb. 18, 1998: "What happens in (Iraq) matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."

- Letter to Clinton signed by Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, etc., Oct. 9, 1998: "We urge you ... to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspected Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its WMD programs."

- Congressman (now House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi, Dec. 16, 1998: "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."

- Sen. Bob Graham and other Democratic senators in a letter to President Bush, Dec. 5, 2001: "There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status."

- Sen. Levin, Sept. 19, 2002: "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building WMDs and the means of delivering them."

- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002: "We know that (Saddam) has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."

- Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sept. 27, 2002: "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing WMDs."

- Sen. Robert Byrd, Oct. 3, 2002: "We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons."

- Sen. Kerry, Oct. 9, 2002: "I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force - if necessary - to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of WMDs in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."

- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Oct. 10, 2002: "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists, including al-Qaida members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."

- Sen. Kerry, Jan. 23, 2003: "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime. ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real."

Even with a breakdown of the U.S. Intelligence gathering agencies, both foreign and domestic & further complicated by the Iraqi Baath Party running an excellent counter – intelligence operation against the U.N., how can so many knowledgeable people been wrong about WMDs? Why do so many Americans point blank say the Dubya lied to us and used WMDs as a thin excuse to finish is father's war? All of these people believed the same thing. Am I the only American that believes taking out Saddam was a good idea?

Why do Canadians constantly say "eh?"
Because they don't know what is going on.
I love Canadians. A Canadian taxi driver once asked me where I was from. I responded "America". He responded "We are ALL Americans. Where are you from?"
First person to begin the process that has put me firmly in my place and to make me aware of it.
Just because someone believes in something doesn't make it right.
Question: Does believing someone is going to punch you in the nose give you the right to punch him in the nose first?
Well, try defending that in an American court. Especially if that person has no history of hitting you or anyone except by using the 'weapons' you supplied him.

if someone "looks like" they are going to punch me, i dont stick around to find out whether or not they are going to follow through, i get the hell out of there. the US cant exactly just "get the hell out" of where we are. we are on earth, stuck, for the time being. so, if i were ever in a situation where i thought somebody was going to hurt me, and i couldnt move, yes, i would definately knock their lights out first. anyone who says they would just sit around waiting for a beating is either a wuss or an idiot. possibly both.

Or a Christian. Remember, "Turn the other cheek", or doesn't your Christian heritage teach you anything. Jesus took it to the cross, others to the lions. Willing to die rather than betray their beliefs. Why do you think we have separation of church and state? Because as a Christian nation we would have to turn the other cheek; because as a democratic nation we would have to do so as well. Unfortunately, the majority of persons that die for our beliefs are young Christian boys that are told not to turn the other cheek by the president and the generals that don't have their cheeks exposed.