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Reader comments
JDJan 15, 2004 at 12:25PM
What a bunch of crap. He was a liberal before 9/11? Then how does he explain his support for Ross Perot? And if he's a conservative because of 9/11, then why doesn't he talk about political Islam being at the root of what happened on 9/11, rather than this generic group of people who hate the United States? Sounds to me like he doesn't have much more to offer than Pat Buchanan or Russ Limbaugh.
sjcJan 15, 2004 at 12:44PM
Dennis Miller went from funny to not the moment he left SNL. Ahh, bottom feeders.
laneJan 15, 2004 at 2:22PM
was he funny on SNL? i must have missed that episode.
REFJan 15, 2004 at 5:18PM
I'm guessing you think Al Franken was funny on SNL.
sjcJan 15, 2004 at 5:19PM
Well, I was a teenager at the time, so who knows. All I know is that the Anal-Retentive series of skits with Phil Hartman was a godsend. That, and Jon Lotivz as Satan.
sjcJan 15, 2004 at 5:22PM
Dear REF: I'm going to act in good faith assume this isn't some sort of asinine "Al Franken is librull" comment. Al Franken's stuff in the mid to late 80s on SNL was either sorta eh (Franken wearing the satellite dish on his head during Weekend Update) or just like everyone else on SNL: find a character and beat it into the ground (Stuart Smalley). So no. Again, this is all in good faith.
FirasJan 15, 2004 at 8:02PM
"Hitler is Hitler. That's the quintessential evil in the history of the universe"
Hm.... myopia? I'd bet there were people who killed more than Hitler did.
FirasJan 15, 2004 at 8:28PM
Looked around, guess not. I suppose you couldn't do it without 20th C. tech.
CheshireJan 15, 2004 at 9:17PM
Yeah, I don't know what happened to him. He started down the conservative/libertarian path way before 9/11 -- I think it was the resounding failure of his talk show that started him down his path of ruin.
I did think his "Weekend Update" stint was far and away the best of the middle years. Poor Kevin Nealon, who followed him. He was so less funny compared to Miller, but then it got worse with Norm Macdonald and then catastrophic with Colin Quinn, who seems like a decent guy who's probably very funny if you're talking with him at a party. A few years ago I happened to catch a rerun with Nealon. My standards having been lowered so far with Macdonald and Quinn, I was surprised to find that Nealon was actually pretty funny after all. It's just that he wasn't as funny as Miller. Fortunately, I think the era of Tina Fey/Jimmy Fallon has undone the wrongs of all those years.
Now Miller has become an unjustifiably angry parody of himself. His writers just plug current events into the Miller Non Sequitur Comparison Generator(TM), and out spits his shtick. I don't want to go off on a rant here, but these days his connections make about as much sense as Cicero giving speeches in American Sign Language. His HBO show started off all right, I guess, but as it went on, he went so far on tilt it made the angle of Earth's axis look like seasons shouldn't exist. And don't get me started on his stint on the NFL, ok, chachi?
Andrew GrossmanJan 15, 2004 at 9:18PM
Not that it matters (at all), but both Stalin and Mao trounced Hitler, at least in terms of numbers...
donald tettoJan 16, 2004 at 12:52AM
It also depends how direct a death has to be to be attributed to any given regime. Hitler might have the direct-ordered-death total, but there are several regimes that cause(d) countless deaths indirectly. To get back on topic, Miller, yeah, totally never funny. I'd be interested to see how much of a trend this is, though (if you could assign a some sort of liberal/conservative score and follow the trend among major entertainers).
padraiginJan 16, 2004 at 2:39PM
Where's that thing that got posted at Mefi way back, where you can answer the questions and then it plots you on an axis to show you how right/left/libertarian/authoritarian you are?
Someone could go do that quiz, pretending to BE Dennis Miller, based on his body of work. Then we'll have a definitive answer on all this.
Or, well, maybe definitive is a stretch.
Scotty The BodyJan 16, 2004 at 4:30PM
Personally, I find that Dennis Miller makes a lot of sense and he's damned funny! His little schtick about Qaddafi on his HBO special made me giggle 'til my sides hurt and perfectly illustrated his point: sometimes you have to kick ass in this world to get results. It has always been that way and always will be.
Does that mean I'm voting Bush? Probably not! But I still can laugh a all sides of the issues
tJan 16, 2004 at 7:36PM
Sure he switched after 9/11, and in the eyes of liberals turned into a moron. Because if you don't agree with us you must be a little slow.
FirasJan 17, 2004 at 5:30AM
http://www.politicalcompass.org/
leonJan 20, 2004 at 3:22PM
People can change, can they not?
(In my opinion, Franken has never been funny. Miller was hilarious on Live From Washington, definitely worth a rental. But I didn't think much of his time on SNL.)
RaphyJan 21, 2004 at 7:46PM
Those of you stuck in who-killed-more la-la land sadly miss the more important point Miller raises (at least you miss it in this thread) - that comparisons between Hitler and Bush coming from the Left are not only morally repulsive, they are extremely offensive and upsetting to Jews around the world, as well as the vast majority of thinking people.
I could give a shit what you think of Bush and his policies, however, the comparisons to Hitler only trivializes the horror of his regime. If you can't recognize that....
JoeJan 26, 2004 at 9:19PM
Hmmm, as far as mass genocides go I dont think we have to look much further than our own borders. When was the last time you bumped into, worked with, shared a beer with a native american. I dont mean this to sound anti-semetic because I sure as hell am not, but the jews werent pretty much wiped off the face of the earth as the native americans where.
JoeJan 26, 2004 at 9:22PM
Hey Raphy, what about Limbaugh's femi-nazi comments. I dont think the crimes commited by feminists come close to the harm caused by Bush. Republicans have a nasty habit of ignoring what is said by those in their own camp. I find it funny that Miller has decided to through his lot in with the Bush regime, who would like to turn this democracy into a theocricy. Sound familiar?
Andy LawrenceJan 27, 2004 at 3:22AM
Joe, you are a wasted comment. I suppose you want to give reperations to the great great great great great grandchildren of the American Indians or slaves. All the countries of the world have skeletons in their closets (ALL OF THEM!), but how they are judged should come from the modern day.
George Bush lead a coalition of over 40 nations (though the liberals would have you believe we did it alone). The U.N. was useless EVEN AFTER THE 17TH resolution, what good was an 18th resolution that they wouldn't back up. Saddam broke the ceasefire of 1991 A LOT(yet the liberals say it was preemptive), Saddam backed and funded Palestinian Jihad and Hamas (among other terrorists groups), and laid out mass gravesites like Mao or Stalin (yet the liberals supported his reign and call Bush Hitler?) The liberals are so far whacked that they don't even make sense to themselves anymore.
Maybe Dennis Miller will make some sense to you morons and help you to see the world in REAL terms. Oh yeah, good luck with them A-1 candidates you guys have running against G.W.
JoeJan 27, 2004 at 10:26AM
Excuse me Andy but did i mention anything about reparations? Don't put words in my mouth. Andy choke on the following, especially after the fact that David Kay the person put in charge of finding the wmd's thinks they never existed. Oh and by the way, GW lost the popular election last time, and he will lose it again. His support is hemorrhaging daily, he is even losing support from his republican base. His only sure votes are from the religous right, and reason never played well with that crowd. And of course my comment was a waste, any opinion that does not fit in with the right wingers view of the world is ku koo. I'll take it as a compliment....again, choke on these out and out LIES...
The Bush Administration on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Capabilities
August 2002-November 2003
Prepared by Christina Andersson
We have compiled statements from the Bush Administration primarily on Iraq's previous and current ability to manufacture and hide chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons as well as delivery systems. We have also included statements on the relationship between intelligence and post-war evidence of such capabilities. Statements in bold are our emphases.
Vice President Cheney
Veterans of Foreign Wars 103 rd National Convention
August 26, 2002
"But we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Among other sources, we've gotten this from the firsthand testimony of defectors --including Saddam's own son-in-law, who was subsequently murdered at Saddam's direction. Many of us are convinced that Saddam will acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon.
"Armed with an arsenal of these weapons of terror, and seated atop ten percent of the world's oil reserves, Saddam Hussein could then be expected to seek domination of the entire Middle East, take control of a great portion of the world's energy supplies, directly threaten America's friends throughout the region, and subject the United States or any other nation to nuclear blackmail.
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."
Secretary Powell
FOX News Sunday Interview with Tony Snow
September 8, 2002
"There is no doubt that he has chemical weapons stocks… With respect to biological weapons, we are confident that he has some stocks of those weapons and he is probably continuing to try to develop more… With respect to nuclear weapons, we are quite confident that he continues to try to pursue the technology that would allow him to develop a nuclear weapon… So there's no question that he has these weapons, but even more importantly, he is striving to do even more, to get even more."
Vice President Cheney
NBC Meet the Press with Tim Russert
September 8, 2002
"What we have seen recently that has raised our level of concern to the current state of unrest, if you will, if I can put it in those terms, is that he now is trying through his illicit procurement network to acquire the equipment he needs to be able to enrich uranium.
"Specifically aluminum tubes. There's a story in the New York Times this morning --this is --and I want to attribute it to the Times. I don't want to talk about obviously specific intelligence sources. But it is now public that in fact he has been seeking to acquire, and we have been able to intercept and prevent him from acquiring through this particular channel, the kinds of tubes that are necessary to build a centrifuge. And the centrifuge is required to take low-grade uranium and enhance it into highly-enriched uranium, which is what you have to have in order to build a bomb. This is a technology he was working on back say before the Gulf War.
"And one of the reasons it's of concern to him is we know about a particular shipment --we have intercepted that --we don't know what else, what other avenues he may be taking out there, what he may have already acquired… So we have to deal with these bits and pieces and try to put them together into a mosaic to understand what's going on. But we do know with absolute certainty that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon."
National Security Advisor Rice
The New Republic (June 30, 2003)
September 8, 2002
"There will always be some uncertainty about how quickly [Saddam] can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Secretary Rumsfeld
The New Republic (June 30, 2003)
September 8, 2002
"Imagine a September eleventh with weapons of mass destruction. It's not three thousand – it's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children."
President Bush
United Nations General Assembly, New York
September 12, 2002
"U. N. inspectors believe Iraq has produced two to four times the amount of biological agents it declared, and has failed to account for more than three metric tons of material that could be used to produce biological weapons. Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
"United Nations' inspections also revealed that Iraq likely maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons.
"And in 1995, after four years of deception, Iraq finally admitted it had a crash nuclear weapons program prior to the Gulf War. We know now, were it not for that war, the regime in Iraq would likely have possessed a nuclear weapon no later than 1993.
"Today, Iraq continues to withhold important information about its nuclear program --weapons design, procurement logs, experiment data, an accounting of nuclear materials and documentation of foreign assistance. Iraq employs capable nuclear scientists and technicians. It retains physical infrastructure needed to build a nuclear weapon. Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon. Should Iraq acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear weapon within a year. And Iraq's state-controlled media has reported numerous meetings between Saddam Hussein and his nuclear scientists, leaving little doubt about his continued appetite for these weapons.
"Iraq also possesses a force of Scud-type missiles with ranges beyond the 150 kilometers permitted by the U. N. Work at testing and production facilities shows that Iraq is building more long-range missiles that it can inflict mass death throughout the region…
"We know that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass murder even when inspectors were in his country. Are we to assume that he stopped when they left?"
A Decade of Deception and Defiance White House Fact Sheet
September 12, 2002
Biological Weapons
-2001 Iraqi defector said, "he had visited twenty secret facilities for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons."
-"UNSCOM experts concluded… that Iraq actually produced two to four times the amount of most agents, including anthrax and botulinum toxin, than it had declared."
-Failure to account for 3 tons of growth material for biological agents.
-Al-Dawrah Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Facility is one of two known biocontainment level 3 facilities.
-Continued attempts to procure mobile biological weapons laboratories "that could be used for further research and development." Chemical Weapons
-"Saddam Hussein continues his efforts to develop chemical weapons."
-"Gaps identified by UNSCOM… strongly suggest that Iraq maintains stockpiles of chemical agents, probably VX, sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard."
-Hundreds of tons of chemical precursors and tens of thousands of unfilled munitions remain unaccounted for.
-15,000 artillery rockets remain unaccounted for.
-550 artillery shells filled with mustard agent remain unaccounted for.
-Continued rebuilding and expansion of dual-use infrastructure that could rapidly be diverted to chemical weapons production (eg: chlorine and phenol plants)
-"Seeking to purchase chemical weapons agent precursors and applicable production equipment."
-Attempting to hide activities at the Fallujah plant -Chlorine production capacity far higher than required for civilian water treatment needs at Fallujah and three other plants. "Evidence indicates that some of its chlorine imports are being diverted for military purposes."
Nuclear Weapons
-Capability to build a nuclear bomb within months if Iraq acquired fissile material.
-"Embarked on worldwide hunt for materials to make atomic bomb."
-Sought to purchase thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes "which officials believe were intended as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium." -Withheld documentation on past nuclear program.
-"Still has the technical expertise and some of the infrastructure needed to pursue goal of building a nuclear weapon." -"Saddam Hussein has repeatedly met with his nuclear scientists over the past two years."
Ballistic Missiles
-"Believed to be developing ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 km."
-"Discrepancies identified by UNSCOM… suggest that Iraq retains small force of SCUD-type missiles and an undetermined number of launchers and warheads."
-"Continues work on the al-Samoud liquid propellant short-range missile (which can fly beyond the allowed 150 kilometers)."
-"The al-Samoud and Ababil-100 appeared in a military parade in Baghdad on December 31, 2000, suggesting that both systems are nearing operational deployment."
-"The Al-Rafah-North facility is Iraq's principal site for testing liquid propellant missile engines… has been building a new, larger test stand there that is clearly intended for testing prohibited longer-range missile engines."
-Al-Mamoun facility, rebuilt structures for Badr-2000 missile program that had been dismantled by UNSCOM.
Other Means of Delivery
-Continued conversion of L-29 jet trainer aircraft for potential vehicles to deliver chemical or biological weapons.
Government of Great Britain
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government
September 24, 2002
General Conclusions
-Iraq has military plans to use chemical and biological weapons, including against Iraq's Shia population. "Some of these weapons are deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them."
-Iraq has command and control arrangements to employ chemical and biological weapons in place. "Special Security Organization and Special Republic Guard units would be involved in the movement of any chemical and biological weapons to military units. The Iraqi military holds artillery and missile systems at Corps level throughout the Armed Forces and conducts regular training with them. The Directorate of Rocket Forces has operational control of strategic missile systems and some multiple Launcher Rocket Systems."
Biological Weapons
-"We know from intelligence that Iraq has continued to produce biological warfare agents… Iraq also has its own engineering capability to design and construct biological agent… and is judged to be self-sufficient in the technology required to produce biological weapons. The experience personnel who were active in the program have largely remained in the country."
-Facilities of concern include: Castor Oil Production Plant at Fallujah, al-Dawrah Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Institute, Amariyah Serum and Vaccine Plant at Abu Ghraib
-"There was intelligence that Iraq was starting to produce biological warfare agents in mobile production facilities."
-"Recent intelligence confirms that the Iraqi military have developed mobile facilities." Chemical Weapons
-"In mid-2001, the JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) assessed that Iraq retained some chemical warfare agents, precursors, production equipment and weapons from before the Gulf War. These stocks would enable Iraq to produce significant quantities of mustard gas within weeks and of nerve agent within months."
-"Iraq has continued to produce chemical agent." The chlorine and phenol plants at Fallujah are of particular concern, as is the phosgene production plant at al-Qa'qa'.
-Those of concern include: Ibn Sina Company at Tarmiyah, al Qa'qa' chemical complex Nuclear Weapons
-"The present Iraqi program is almost certainly seeking an indigenous ability to enrich uranium to the level needed for a nuclear weapon."
-"Iraq is making concerted covert efforts to acquire dual-use technology and materials with nuclear applications."
-"Iraq has sought the supply of significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
-Attempt to purchase vacuum pumps, magnet production line, Anhydrous Hydrogen Fluoride, a large filament winding machine, and a large balancing machine for uranium enrichment purposes.
-Repeated attempts to purchase 60,000 or more specialized aluminum tubes. "The specialized aluminum in question is subject to international export controls because of its potential application in the construction of gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium, although there is no definitive intelligence that it is destined for a nuclear program."
-"While sanctions remain effect Iraq would not be able to produce a nuclear weapon."
-"If they were removed or prove ineffective, it would take Iraq at least 5 years to produce sufficient fissile material for a weapon indigenously."
-Weapon within 1 to 2 years with acquired fissile material.
Ballistic Missiles
-Retained up to 20 Al-Hussein ballistic missiles with range of 650km. "They could be used with conventional, chemical, or biological warheads and, with a range of up to 650km, are capable of reaching a number of countries in the region including Cyprus, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel."
-Began development of missiles with range of over 1000 km that could have been produced, under sanctions, by 2007.
-"Iraq wants to extend the range of its missile systems to over 1000km," and "satellite imagery has shown a new engine test stand being constructed… capable of testing engines for medium range ballistic missiles with ranges over 1000km."
-At least 50 Al Samoud missiles have been produced and Iraq has "used the absence of weapons inspectors to work on extending the range to at least 200km."
-Production of Ababil-100 underway and "Iraq has worked on extending its range to at least 200 km."
-Iraq has the "technical expertise" to develop chemical and biological warheads for the al-Samoud/ Ababil-100 ballistic missiles.
-Attempted and some successful procurement of prohibited technology and materials (eg: aluminum powder, ammonium perchlorate, and hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene, liquid propellant chemicals).
Other Means of Delivery
-"In the last six months, the JIC has confirmed its earlier judgements on Iraqi chemical and biological warfare capabilities and assessed that Iraq has the means to deliver chemical and biological weapons."
-"Iraq has a variety of delivery means available for chemical and biological agents."
-Over 20,000 artillery munitions remain unaccounted for, according to UNSCOM.
-"It is probable that Iraq retains a capability for aerosol dispersal of both chemical and biological agent over a large area."
-"Iraq has attempted to modify the L-29 jet trainer to allow it to be used as an UAV which is potentially capable of delivering chemical and biological agents over a large area."
National Security Advisor Rice
The New Republic (June 30, 2003)
September 25, 2002
"There clearly are contacts between Al Qaeda and Iraq… There clearly is testimony that some of the contacts have been important contacts and that there's a relationship there."
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld
The New Republic (June 30, 2003)
September 26, 2002
In Washington on September 26, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld claimed he had "bulletproof" evidence of ties between Saddam and Al Qaeda.
Central Intelligence Agency
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs
October 2002
General Conclusions
"Baghdad has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of UN restrictions; if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade." "Iraq has preserved and in some cases enhanced the infrastructure and expertise necessary for WMD production and has used that capability to maintain a stockpile of WMD and to increase its size and sophistication in some areas."
"In the absence of inspectors, Baghdad's already considerable ability to work on prohibited programs without risk of discovery has increased, and there is substantial evidence that Iraq is reconstituting prohibited programs."
Biological Weapons
-"Baghdad has established a large-scale, redundant, and concealed BW agent production capability, which includes mobile facilities; these facilities can evade detection, are highly survivable, and can exceed the production rates Iraq had prior to the Gulf war."
-"Iraq has some lethal and incapacitating BW agents and is capable of quickly producing and weaponizing a variety of such agents for delivery by bombs, missiles, aerial sprayers and covert operatives, including potentially against the US Homeland."
-"Iraq has the capability to convert quickly legitimate vaccine and biopesticide plants to biological warfare production and already may have done so."
-"Experts from UNSCOM assessed that Baghdad's declarations vastly understated the production of biological agents and estimated that Iraq actually produced two-to-four times the amount of agent that is acknowledged producing, including Bacillus anthracis."
-"The improvement or expansion of a number of nominally 'civilian' facilities that were directly associated with biological weapons indicates that key aspects of Iraq's offensive BW program are active and most elements more advanced and larger than before the 1990-1991 Gulf War." Facilities of concern include: al-Dawrah Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Facility, Amiriyah Serum and Vaccine Institute, and the Fallujah III Castor Oil Production Plant Chemical Weapons
-"Baghdad has begun renewed production of chemical warfare agents, probably including mustard, sarin, cyclosarin, and VX."
-"Iraq has the ability to produce chemical warfare agents within its chemical industry, although it probably depends on external sources for some precursors."
-"Baghdad is expanding its infrastructure, under cover of civilian industries, that it could use to advance its CW agent production capability."
-"Gaps in Iraqi accounting and current production capabilities strongly suggest that Iraq maintains a stockpile of chemical agents, probably VX, sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard."
-"Iraq probably has stocked at least 100 metric tons and possibly as much as 500 metric tons of CW agents."
-"Iraq probably has concealed precursors, production equipment, documentation and other items necessary for continuing its CW effort."
-"Thousands of tons of chemical precursors and tens of thousands of unfilled munitions… remain unaccounted for."
-Overstated use of chemical bombs in Iran-Iraq war by at least 6,000.
-15,000 artillery rockets not accounted for.
-550 artillery shells filled with mustard agent not accounted for.
-"Baghdad continues to rebuild and expand dual-use infrastructure that it could divert quickly to CW production… Iraq is seeking to purchase CW agent precursors and applicable production equipment and is trying to hide the activities of the Fallujah plant." Nuclear Weapons
-"In the absence of inspections, however, most analysts assess that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear program
-"unraveling the IAEA's hard-earned accomplishments."
-No weapon before the last half of the decade if fissile material produced indigenously.
-Weapon within a year with acquired fissile material.
-"Iraq's efforts to procure tens of thousands of proscribed high-strength aluminum tubes are of significant concern. All intelligence experts agree that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons and that these tubes could be used in a centrifuge enrichment program. Most intelligence specialists assess this to be the intended use, but some believe that these tubes are probably intended for conventional weapons programs."
-"Iraq has withheld important details relevant to its nuclear program."
-Retains cadre of nuclear scientists, program documentation, sufficient dual-use capabilities "to support a reconstituted nuclear weapons program."
-"An increase in dual-use procurement activity in recent years may be supporting a reconstituted nuclear weapons program."
-Numerous meetings between Saddam and scientists over the past two years.
-"Baghdad may have acquired uranium enrichment capabilities that could shorten substantially the amount of time necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Ballistic Missiles
-"Iraq has developed a ballistic missile capability that exceeds the 150km range limitation established under UNSCR 687."
-"Discrepancies in Baghdad's declarations suggest that Iraq retains a small force of extended-range Scud-type missiles and an undetermined number of launchers and warheads."
-"Iraq never explained the disposition of advanced missile components, such as guidance and control systems, that it could not produce on its own and that would be critical to developmental programs."
-"The al-Samoud liquid propellant SRBM and the Ababil-100 solid propellant SRBM, however, are capable of flying beyond the allowed 150km range. Both missiles have been tested aggressively and are in early deployment."
-"Other evidence strongly suggests Iraq is modifying missile testing and production facilities to produce even longer-range missiles."
-"The Al-Rafah-North Liquid Propellant Engine Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation Facility is Iraq's principal site for the static testing of liquid propellant missile engines… Baghdad has begun building a new test stand there that is larger… The only possible explanation for this test facility is that Iraq intends to test engines for longer-range missiles."
-"The Al Mutasim Solid Rocket Motor and Test Facility, previously associated with Iraq's Badr-2000 solid propellant missile program, has been rebuilt and expanded... the size of certain facilities there… suggests that Baghdad is preparing to develop systems that are prohibited by the UN."
-"At the Al Mamoun Solid Rocket Motor Production Plant and RDT& E Facility, the Iraqis, since the December 1998 departure of inspectors, have rebuilt structures damaged during the Gulf War and dismantled by UNSCOM that originally were built to manufacture solid propellant motors for the Badr-2000 program. They also have built a new building and are reconstructing other buildings originally designed to fill large Badr-2000 motor casings with solid propellant. Also at al-Mamoun, the Iraqis have rebuilt two structures used to 'mix' solid propellant for the Badr-2000 missile… the only logical explanation for the size and configuration of these mixing buildings is that Iraq intends to develop longer-range prohibited missiles."
-"The Iraqis have completed a new ammonium perchlorate production plant at Mamoun that supports Iraq's solid propellant missile program." Other Means of Delivery
-"Iraq is continuing to develop other platforms which most analysts believe probably are intended for delivering biological warfare agents."
-"Baghdad's UAVs – especially if used for delivery of chemical and biological warfare agents – could threaten Iraq's neighbors, US forces in the Persian Gulf, and the United States if brought close to, or into, the US Homeland." -"Iraq already has produced modified drop-tanks that can disperse biological or chemical weapons effectively" (aircraft and helicopter-mounted).
President Bush
Rose Garden
October 2, 2002
"In defiance of pledges to the UN it has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons. It is rebuilding the facilities used to make those weapons. UN inspectors believe that Iraq could have produced enough biological and chemical agent to kill millions of people. The regime has the scientists and facilities to build nuclear weapons and is seeking the materials needed to do so."
CIA Director Tenet
Letter to Senator Graham
The New Republic (June 19, 2003)
October 7, 2002
The CIA had "solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda going back a decade."
President Bush
Cincinnati, Ohio
October 7, 2002
"In 1995, after several years of deceit by the Iraqi regime, the head of Iraq's military industries defected. It was then that the regime was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000 liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents. The inspectors, however, concluded that Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount. This is a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for, and is capable of killing millions.
"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, and VX nerve gas. Saddam Hussein also has experience in using chemical weapons. He has ordered chemical attacks on Iran, and on more than forty villages in his own country. These actions killed or injured at least 20,000 people, more than six times the number of people who died in the attacks of September 11. "And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it has used to produce chemical and biological weapons…
"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical and biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using UAVs for missions targeting the United States. "And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems are not required for a chemical or biological attack --all that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it. "And that is the source of our urgent concern about Saddam Hussein's links to international terrorist groups.
"Many people have asked how close Saddam Hussein is to developing a nuclear weapon. We don't know exactly, and that is the problem. Before the Gulf War, the best intelligence indicated that Iraq was eight to 10 years away from developing a nuclear weapon; after the war, international inspectors learned that the regime had been much closer. The regime in Iraq would likely have possessed a nuclear weapon no later than 1993. "The inspectors discovered that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a workable nuclear weapon, and was pursuing several different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb.
"Before being barred from Iraq in 1998, the International Atomic Energy Agency dismantled extensive nuclear weapons-related facilities, including three uranium-enrichment sites. "That same year, information from a high-ranking Iraqi nuclear engineer who had defected, revealed that despite his public promises, Saddam Hussein had ordered his nuclear program to continue. The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. "Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahedeen" --his nuclear holy warriors. "Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past.
"Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. "If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal an amount of highly-enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year."
US Department of State
Fact Sheet, Office of the Spokesman
December 19, 2002
Biological Weapons
"The UN Special Commission concluded that Iraq did not verifiably account for, at a minimum, 2160kg of growth media. This is enough to produce 26,000 liters of anthrax— 3 times the amount Iraq declared; 1200 liters of botulinum toxin; and 5500 liters of clostridium perfrigens– 16 times the amount Iraq declared."
-"In January 1999, UNSCOM reported that Iraq failed to provide credible evidence that… 400 biological weapon-capable aerial bombs had been lost or destroyed."
-"The Iraqi declaration provides no information about its mobile biological weapon agent facilities. Instead it insists that these are 'refrigeration vehicles and food testing laboratories. '"
Chemical Weapons
-"In 1999, UNSCOM and international experts concluded that Iraq needed to provide additional, credible information about VX production."
-"The Iraqi regime has never adequately accounted for hundreds, possibly thousands, of tons of chemical precursors."
-"In January 1999, UNSCOM reported that Iraq failed to provide credible evidence that 550 mustard gas-filled artillery shells… had been lost or destroyed."
-"There is no adequate accounting for nearly 30,000 empty munitions that could be filled with chemical agents."
Means of Delivery
"Iraq admitted in 1995 that a MIG-21 remote-piloted vehicle tested in 1991 was to carry a biological weapon spray system."
"Iraq already knows how to put these biological agents into bombs and how to disperse biological agent using aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles."
Nuclear Weapons
"The Declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger."
Ballistic Missiles
"Iraq has disclosed manufacturing new energetic fuels suited only to a class of missile to which it does not admit."
-"Iraq claims that flight-testing of a larger diameter missile falls within the 150km limit. This claim is not credible."
President Bush
Crawford, Texas
December 31, 2002
"Well, first of all, I think it's important to remember that Saddam Hussein was close to having a nuclear weapon. We don't know whether or not he has a nuclear weapon."
National Security Advisor Rice
"Why We Know Iraq is Lying"
New York Times
January 23, 2003
"For example, the declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq's efforts to get uranium from abroad, its manufacture of specific fuel for ballistic missiles it claims not to have, and the gaps previously identified by the United Nations in Iraq's accounting for more than two tons of the raw materials needed to produce thousands of gallons of anthrax and other biological weapons."
Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz
Council on Foreign Relations
January 23, 2003
"And, of course, there is every reason to believe that things are being moved constantly and hidden. The whole purpose, if you think about it, for Iraq constructing mobile units to produce biological weapons could only have been to be able to hide them. We know about that capability from defectors and other sources, but unless Iraq comes clean about what it has, we cannot expect the inspectors to find them…
"There are also gaps in accounting for such deadly items as 1.5 tons of the nerve gas VX, 550 mustard-filled artillery shells, and 400 biological weapons-capable aerial bombs that the U. N. Special Commission concluded in 1999— and this is the U. N. 's conclusion— Iraq had failed to account for. There is no mention of Iraqi efforts to procure uranium from abroad. Iraq fails to explain why it's producing missile fuel that seems designed for ballistic missiles it claims it does not have. There is no information on 13 recent Iraqi missile tests cited by [chief U. N. inspector] Dr. Blix that exceeded the 150-kilometer limit. There is no explanation of the connection between Iraq's extensive unmanned aerial vehicle program and chemical or biological agent dispersal. There is no information about Iraq's mobile biological weapons production facilities. And, very disturbingly, Iraq has not accounted for some two tons of anthrax growth media…
"Already, we have multiple reports and other evidence of intensified efforts to hide documents in places where they are unlikely to be found, such as private homes of low-level officials and universities. We have reports and other evidence of prohibited material and documents being relocated to agricultural areas and private homes or hidden beneath mosques and hospitals. Furthermore, according to these reports, the material is moved constantly, making it difficult to trace or find without absolutely fresh intelligence. It is a shell game played on a grand scale with deadly serious weapons. Those efforts at concealment are assisted by active surveillance and penetration of the inspectors…
"I think the short answer, Michael, really is there is a lot of evidence; as the evidence accumulates, our ability to talk about it undoubtedly will grow. But we don't have a lot of time; time is running out, and I repeat: What has clearly not happened is any change of attitude by the Iraqi regime.
"Yeah, it's possible that we have been misinformed on some things. The only way to verify that you've been misinformed is with the kind of openness the South Africans or the Ukrainians or the Kazakhs demonstrated. If you can go into places and talk freely to people and look at all the records, you might be convinced. But in a country that has a history of constructing Potemkin villages, there's absolutely no way to know whether what the inspectors were shown were indeed those aluminum tubes that we're concerned about or whether it was a whole facade constructed to substantiate a certain story."
Secretary Powell
Washington, DC
January 27, 2003
"Iraq continues to conceal quantities, vast quantities, of highly lethal material and weapons to deliver it. They could kill thousands upon thousands of men, women and children if Saddam Hussein decides to use these against those men, women and children, or, just as frightening, to provide them to others who might use such weapons."
President Bush
State of the Union Address,
Washington, DC
January 28, 2003
"Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation.
"For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons…
"The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax – enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.
"The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin – enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hadn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.
"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
"U. S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them – despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
"From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide."
Secretary Powell
"We Will Not Shrink From War"
Wall Street Journal
February 3, 2003
"Indeed the Iraqi regime is going to great lengths to conceal its weapons of mass destruction. It has removed material from sites it knew were likely to be inspected. The regime also has an active program of coaching scientists before they talk to inspectors and only permits interviews when minders are present. On top of that, thousands of pages of sensitive weapons-related documents have been found in private homes…
"Iraq also continues to acquire banned equipment, with proscribed imports arriving as recently as last month."
Secretary Powell
United Nations Security Council, New York
February 5, 2003
"It should come as no shock then that since Saddam Hussein forced out the last inspectors in 1998, we have amassed much intelligence indicating that Iraq is continuing to make these [biological] weapons. One of the most worrisome things that emerges from the thick intelligence file we have on Iraq's biological weapons is the existence of mobile production facilities used to make biological agents… We have first-hand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails… He reported that when UNSCOM was in country and inspecting, the biological weapons agent production always began… The units could not be broken down in the middle of a production run… As these drawings, based on their description show, we know what the fermenters look like. We know what the tanks, pumps, compressors and other parts look like. We know they fit together, we know how they work, and we know a great deal about the platforms on which they are mounted… We know that Iraq has at least seven of these mobile biological agents factories."
"Saddam Hussein has investigated dozens of biological agents causing diseases such as gas-gangrene, plague, typhus, tetanus, cholera, campelpox, and hemorrhagic fever. And he also has the wherewithal to develop smallpox."
"We know that Iraq has embedded key portions of its illicit chemical weapons infrastructure within its legitimate civilian industry."
"For example, Iraq has rebuilt key portions of the Tariq State Establishment. Tariq includes facilities designed specifically for Iraq's chemical weapons program and employs key figures from past programs."
"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent." "He is so determined that has made repeated covert attempts to acquire high-specification aluminum tubes from 11 different countries, even after inspections resumed. These tubes are controlled by the Nuclear Suppliers Group precisely because they can be used as centrifuges for enriching uranium.
"By now, just about everyone has heard of these tubes and we all know that there are differences of opinion. There is controversy about what these tubes are for. Most U. S. experts think they are intended to serve as rotors in centrifuges used to enrich uranium. Other experts, and the Iraqis themselves, argue that they are really to produce the rocket bodies for a conventional weapon, a multiple rocket launcher.
"Let me tell you what is not controversial about these tubes. First, all the experts who have analyzed the tubes in our possession agree that they can be adapted for centrifuge use.
"Second, Iraq had no business buying them for any purpose. They are banned for Iraq. I am no expert on centrifuge tubes, but this is an old army trooper. I can tell you a couple things.
"First, it strikes me as quite odd that these tubes are manufactured to a tolerance that far exceeds U. S. requirements for comparable rockets. Maybe Iraqis just manufacture their conventional weapons to a higher standard than we do, but I don't think so.
"Second, we actually have examined tubes from several different batches that were seized clandestinely before they reached Baghdad. What we notice in these different batches is a progression to higher and higher levels of specification, including in the latest batch an anodized coating on extremely smooth inner and outer surfaces.
"Why would they continue refining the specifications? Why would they continuing refining the specification, go to all that trouble for something that, if it was a rocket, would soon be blown into shrapnel when it went off?
"The high-tolerance aluminum tubes are only part of the story. We also have intelligence from multiple sources that Iraq is attempting to acquire magnets and high-speed balancing machines. Both items can be used in a gas centrifuge program to enrich uranium.
"In 1999 and 2000, Iraqi officials negotiated with firms in Romania, India, Russia and Slovenia for the purchase of a magnet production plant. Iraq wanted the plant to produce magnets weighing 20 to 30 grams. That's the same weight as the magnets used in Iraq's gas centrifuge program before the Gulf War.
"This incident, linked with the tubes, is another indicator of Iraq's attempt to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program.
"Intercepted communications from mid-2000 through last summer showed that Iraq front companies sought to buy machines that can be used to balance gas centrifuge rotors. One of these companies also had been involved in a failed effort in 2001 to smuggle aluminum tubes into Iraq.
"People will continue to debate this issue, but there is no doubt in my mind. These illicit procurement efforts show that Saddam Hussein is very much focused on putting in place the key missing piece from his nuclear weapons program, the ability to produce fissile material.
"Numerous intelligence reports over the past decade from sources inside Iraq indicate that Saddam Hussein retains a covert force of up to a few dozen scud-variant ballistic missiles. These are missile with a range of 650 to 900 km.
"What I want you to know today is that Iraq has programs that are intended to produce ballistic missiles that fly over 1,000 kilometers. One program is pursuing a liquid fuel missile that would be able to fly more than 1,200 kilometers. And you can see from this map, as well as I can, who will be in danger of these missiles. As part of this effort, another little piece of evidence, Iraq has built an engine test stand that is larger than anything it has ever had.
"Iraq has been working on a variety of UAVs for more than a decade… Iraq is now concentrating not on these airplanes but on developing and testing smaller UAVs such as this… There is ample evidence that Iraq has dedicated much effort to developing and testing spray devices that could be adapted for UAVs.
"We detected one of Iraq's newest UAVs in a test flight that went 500 km nonstop on autopilot in the racetrack pattern depicted here."
President Bush
Radio Address to the Nation
February 8, 2003
"The Iraqi regime has actively and secretly attempted to obtain equipment needed to produce chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Firsthand witnesses have informed us that Iraq has at least seven mobile factories for the production of biological agents – equipment mounted on trucks and rails to evade discovery.
"Saddam Hussein has longstanding, direct and continuing ties to terrorist networks. Senior members of Iraqi intelligence and al Qaeda have met at least eight times since the early 1990s. Iraq has sent bomb-making and document forgery experts to work with al Qaeda. Iraq has also provided al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons training. And an al Qaeda operative was sent to Iraq several times in the late 1990s for help in acquiring poisons and gases. We also know that Iraq is harboring a terrorist network headed by a senior al Qaeda terrorist planner. This network runs a poison and explosive training camp in northeast Iraq, and many of its leaders are known to be in Baghdad."
Director Tenet
Testimony before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee
February 11, 2003
"Iraq has in place an active effort to deceive U. N. inspectors and deny them access. The effort is directed at the highest levels of the Iraqi regime. Baghdad has given clear directions to its operational forces to hide banned materials in their possession. Iraq's BW program includes mobile research and production facilities that will be difficult, if not impossible, for the inspectors to find. Baghdad began this program in the mid '90s, during a time when U. N. inspectors were in the country. "Iraq has established a pattern of clandestine procurement designed to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program. These procurements include but go well beyond the aluminum tubes that you have heard so much about. Iraq has recently flight-tested missiles that violate the U. S. range limit of 150 kilometers. They have tested unmanned aerial vehicles to ranges that far exceed both what it declared to the United Nations and what it is permitted under U. N. resolutions. "Iraq is harboring senior members of a terrorist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a close associate of al Qaeda. We know Zarqawi's network was behind the poison plots in Europe, and we discussed earlier as well --Secretary Powell the assassination of a U. S. State Department employee in Jordan. "Iraq has in the past provided training in document forgery and bomb-making to al Qaeda. It has also provided training in poisons and gases to two al Qaeda associates. One of these associates characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi officials as successful. "Mr. Chairman, this information is based on a solid foundation of intelligence. It comes to us from credible and reliable sources. Much of it is corroborated by multiple sources. And it is consistent with the pattern of denial and deception exhibited by Saddam Hussein over the past 12 years…
"Sir, I think we will find caches of weapons of mass destruction, absolutely…
"Senator, if the inspections regime continues on its current course, with the non-cooperation and non-compliance of the Iraqis, essentially their continued effort to deceive, to make it possible for these inspectors to work --and there's not much of a record to indicate that that's going to change --that's something you have to factor into your calculations.
"But one thing you have to remember is Saddam Hussein built the WMD program with inspectors living in his country for years.
"He understood how to acquire chemical and biological capabilities. He understood how to establish a clandestine procurement network. He understands how to cross borders. Now, the policy decision you make or others make is not my purview. He will continue to strengthen himself over time, and the greatest concern is how fast he gets to a nuclear capability, which then magnifies the impact of his already large chemical and biological program. So, from a professional perspective, it never gets any better with this fellow, and he's never been a status quo guy."
Director Tenet
Senate Armed Services Committee
February 12, 2003
"But in any event, the other thing that you have to --the other thing, and it's a choice you have to think about, he is going to get a nuclear weapon sooner or later. Our estimate is that with fissile material, he could have it in a year or two. He will enhance his ballistic missile capability with that kind of capability.
"And his biological-weapons capability is far bigger than it was at the time of the Gulf War, and he has a chemical-weapons capability that he hasn't declared. And so you put that in the context of a region --it's actually a little bit different than what you look at in North Korea, because you've got a South Korea with a large American presence and a Japanese, a Russian, a Chinese and a South Korean ally that are a bit different in terms of their strength and overall stature than the countries he faces in this region."
Secretary Powell
Center for Strategic and International Studies
March 5, 2003
For example, we know that in late January, the Iraqi intelligence service transported chemical and biological agents to areas far away from Baghdad, near the Syrian and Turkish borders, in order to conceal them, and they have concealed them, from the prying eyes of inspectors.
In early February, fearing that UNMOVIC had precise intelligence about storage locations, the Iraqis were moving prohibited materials every 12 to 24 hours. And in mid-February, concerned about the surveillance capabilities of the U-2 overflights that they finally were going to permit, Iraq was transferring banned materials in old vehicles and placing them in poor, working-class neighborhoods outside the capital. If Baghdad really were cooperating, if they really wanted to comply, if it really was disarmament that they were interested in, they would be bringing all these materials out, not scattering them for protection.
President Bush
East Room, White House
March 6, 2003
"Iraq's dictator has made a public show of producing and destroying a few missiles, missiles that violate the restrictions set out more than 10 years ago. Yet our intelligence shows that even as he is destroying these few missiles, he has ordered the continued production of the very same type of missiles.
"Iraqi operatives continue to hide biological and chemical agents to avoid detection by inspectors. In some cases these materials have been moved to different locations every 12 to 24 hours, or placed in vehicles that are in residential neighborhoods. We know from multiple intelligence sources that Iraqi weapons scientists continue to be threatened with harm should they cooperate with U. N. inspectors."
Scientists are required by Iraqi intelligence to wear concealed recording devices during interviews, and hotels where interviews take place are bugged by the regime.
Secretary Powell
United Nations Security Council, New York
March 7, 2003
"Dr. ElBaradei talked about the aluminum tubes that Iraq has tried to acquire over the years, but we also know that, notwithstanding the report today, that there is new information that is available to us and, I believe, available to the IAEA about a European country where Iraq was found shopping for these kinds of tubes; and that country has provided information to us, to IAEA, that the material properties and manufacturing tolerances required by Iraq are more exact by a factor of 50 percent or more than those usually specified for rocket motor casings. Its experts concluded that the tolerances and specifications Iraq was seeking cannot be justified for unguided rockets. "And I'm very pleased that we will keep this issue open. "The point is that this document conclusively shows that Iraq had and still has the capability to manufacture these kinds of weapons; that Iraq had and still has the capability to manufacture not only chemical but biological weapons, and that Iraq had and still has literally tens of thousands of delivery systems, including increasingly capable and dangerous unmanned aerial vehicles."
US Official
New York Times
March 10, 2003
"The distinctive appearance of the rockets' cluster munitions, heavy metal balls with holes in them, suggested their use as a way to disperse chemical of biological weapons, said the official."
"If you take the kinds of fuses we know they have, and you screw them in there, when these things come out from the main frame and they explode inward, chemical agents come out. These can be used for biological weapons, too."
State Department Spokesman Boucher
Washington Times
March 11, 2003
"Here are the inspectors now finding a whole new system of pilotless vehicles that Iraq could be developing for dispersal of chemical and biological weapons, another indication they're still working on that."
Vice President Cheney
NBC Meet the Press
March 16, 2003
"And I think that would be the fear here, that even if he were tomorrow to give everything up, if he stays in power we have to assume that as soon as the world is looking the other way and preoccupied with other issues he'll be back again rebuilding his BW and CW capabilities, and once again reconstituting his nuclear program. "We know he has reconstituted these programs since the Gulf War. We know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons, and we know he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the al Qaeda organization.
"We know that based on intelligence that he has been very, very good at hiding these kinds of efforts. He has had years to get good at it, and we know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has in fact reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong. And I think if you look at the track record of the International Atomic Energy Agency in this kind of issue, especially where Iraq is concerned, they have consistently underestimated or missed what it was Saddam Hussein was doing.
President Bush
Address to the Nation
March 17, 2003
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
"The danger is clear: using chemical, biological, or one day nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their state ambition and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other."
US Military Officials
CNN
March 18, 2003
Iraqi Republican Guard military units south of Baghdad may now have chemical munitions filled with a form of VX nerve agent as well as mustard gas, US military officials Tuesday told CNN. Officials base the possibility on intelligence reports that include the monitoring of Iraqi military communications.
General Franks
Washington Post
March 23, 2003
"There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. As this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them."
Press Secretary Fleischer
Washington Post
March 23, 2003
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday there is "no question" that weapons of mass destruction will be found, and said documenting the discoveries "is one of the reasons that there are so many reporters present with the military."
Kenneth Adelman, member of Defense Policy Board
Washington Post
March 23, 2003
"I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction. One thing we may find is Saddam Hussein ordered them to be used and soldiers didn't follow the orders. The threat of use goes down every day because adherence to orders goes down."
President Bush
Washington Post
March 27, 2003
In his speech yesterday at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, home of the US Central Command, Bush sought again to frame the Iraqi campaign as a bid to "prevent the Iraqi regime from using its hidden weapons of mass destruction."
Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz
Washington Post
March 30, 2003
"The president has made very clear that the reason why we are in Iraq is to find weapons of mass destruction. The fact that we haven't found them in seven or eight days doesn't faze me one little bit. Very clearly, we need to find this stuff or people are going to be asking questions."
Secretary Rumsfeld
ABC "This Week with George Stephanapolous"
March 30, 2003
"If you think – let me take that, both pieces – the area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.
Kenneth Adelman, member of Defense Policy Board
Washington Post
April 10, 2003
"With fear of Hussein almost gone, 'people will step forward pretty fast' and identify Iraq's weapons stores, said former Reagan arms official Kenneth Adelman, who serves on the Defense Policy Board. 'It should be pretty soon, in the next five days. '"
Secretary Rumsfeld
Washington Post
April 10, 2003
"The thought that as part of this process, some of those materials could leave the country and [get] in the hands of terrorist networks would be a very unhappy prospect… to the extent they haven't been moved out of the country – it obviously is important to find them."
Secretary Rumsfeld
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer
April 13, 2003
Q: "Are you still convinced we will find weapons of mass destruction?"
A: "Oh my goodness, there's been so much intelligence, CIA material about what's been going on in that country that if we can find the right people who will tell us where they've located them then that's the way we're going to find them. Inspectors didn't find them and certainly we're not going to find them. It's not like a treasure hunt when you run around and dig down and see if there's a tunnel some place. You've got to find the people who dug the tunnels, the people who've worked in those operations."
Q: "And you think we will?"
A: "I do."
Press Secretary Fleischer
New York Times
April 14, 2003
"We have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. This is what this war was about and is about. And we have high confidence it will be found."
Press Secretary Fleischer
Dallas Morning News
April 23, 2003
"We know they exist. And we're confident they will be found."
President Bush
New York Times
April 25, 2003
"I think there's going to be skepticism until people find out there was, in fact, a weapons of mass destruction program. We are learning more as we interrogate or we have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them. But it's going to take time to find them. And the best way to find them is to continue to collect information from the humans, Iraqis who were involved in hiding them." (From interview with Tom Brokaw, Air Force One)
Senior Administration Official
New York Times
April 25, 2003
"It's possible that they had the precursors, the raw stuff, but they did not weaponize it. We just don't know yet." (From an interview one week earlier)
Press Secretary Fleischer
Washington Times
April 26, 2003
"The president says that we have evidence now that we are gathering that shows that they may have destroyed some of them on the eve of the war. And just because it happened on the eve of the war, that proves what the president is saying about in the months leading up to the war, that the real cause of insecurity and the threat the Iraq presented was that they had weapons of mass destruction. We can't explain why they may have destroyed them. Perhaps over time we will find out what drove them to do that. Perhaps it was the fear of actually being discovered, caught red-handed with the very weapons we said they had. "It actually proves the case, when you think about it, that if Iraq did, indeed, destroy some of them on the eve of war, they had them, they lied to the United Nations about them, they lied to the world about them, they lied to the United States about them, and they fooled the inspectors when it came to having them. How could they have destroyed them if they didn't have them?
It "may be the successful military campaign that was carried out that prevented them from doing many of the worse-case scenarios that we feared they'd do. We're fortunate if they destroyed it, because that means they didn't use it. They certainly could have made a very different decision because they did have it. It could have been used. Mercifully, it was not."
Secretary Powell
CBS "Face the Nation"
May 4, 2003
"Their [the Syrians] position is they think it unlikely Saddam Hussein would have trusted them with such weapons."
Undersecretary Stephen Cambone
US Department of Defense Press Briefing
May 7, 2003
"So, while some of the equipment on the trailer could have been used for purposes other than biological weapons agent production, US and UK technical experts have concluded that the unit does not appear to perform any function beyond what the defector said it was for, which was the production of biological agents.
"As time goes by and the more we learn, I'm sure we're going to discover that the WMD programs are as extensive and as varied as the Secretary of State reported in his February address." Q: "On the expectations, is it possible that no specific weapons will be found, and that perhaps precursor chemicals and the documentation of this program is really what is going to be recovered on the ground?" A: "That may be. It may be that we find that in some cases there will be larger and smaller stockpiles of things. In some cases, they'll be larger and smaller parts of, say, the missile and delivery systems." "I think we're going to find that they had a weapons of mass destruction program. Now, how it was configured and how they intended to use it is part of the hard work that they're going through right now."
Vice Admiral Jacoby
U. S. Department of Defense Press Briefing
May 7, 2003
Q: "Is it possible that a lot of the intelligence the US had about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program before the war is going to turn out to be wrong now that you're on the ground able to check it out?"
A: "It's far too early to tell. As Dr. Cambone's been saying, this is piecing together a major jigsaw puzzle, and we're only just beginning to gain insights and to work the puzzle."
Q: "The thing that I think is still confusing is prior – just as the war was unfolding, Defense officials, intelligence officials kept saying that they were convinced there were weapons of mass destruction and there was direct threat to US troops in the theater. We heard about the red line. We he
JoeJan 27, 2004 at 10:30AM
And the best part is, there are soooo many lies I couldnt fit them all in one post. And by the way Dennis Miller was much funnier when he was sticking it to the man, not taking it.
JoeJan 27, 2004 at 2:35PM
Please name one liberal who supported Moa? Where the fuck did that come from? Yeah, me and all my friends are huge Moa, Stalin supporters. Jesus, what year is this?
RaphyJan 28, 2004 at 3:21PM
Joe,
My comment had to do with a specific comparison being thrown about by many on the far Left - that Bush equals Hitler. My opinion of this comparison is one of disgust - at the idea, and at those who make it.
"what about Limbaugh's femi-nazi comments...?"
I really don't understand why you've asked me this question. I don't know...what about his comments? What about the soup-Nazi on Seinfeld? Are you suggesting this is the same thing as directly equating Bush and Hitler?
I am a Jew. My comments are based upon my experience as a Jew. I am not a defender of Bush (or Limbaugh, for that matter).
JoeJan 29, 2004 at 12:40PM
My point, and I apologize for singling you out, is that Republican indignation may ring true on this issue if they held those in their own party responsible for similar comments. I agree, it is a false comparison, but 1. there were only 2 entries out of thousands that compared Bush to Hitler. 2. The contest was open to anyone who would like to submit an ad. 3. Republicans seized on those remarks to invalidate moveon.org and the other amazing videos that were sent in. Before Republicans become enraged by remarks from liberals, perhaps they should censure those in their own camp who make similar remarks. These are the people who wanted to impeach Clinton (by the way, I dont like him either) for receiving a blow job, but are silent when it comes Bush's lies that cost 500+ soldiers their lives as well as an estimated 10,000 Iraqi civilians. I am just looking for a little consistency.
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.