# Bush: why Iraq's WMD can't be found... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 26, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305 "2003-04-26T12:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susma_Rio_Sep)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/1 "2003-04-26T12:44:12Z")
Bush tells us now that Iraq’s WMD might never be found: because Saddam earlier either had them destroyed, or moved them outside Iraq, or hid them (meaning so well they can’t be found). Effectively, the US/UK partnership waged a war of aggression on Iraq in order to arrive at this fact. What a horribly deadly and destructive way of establishing a fact. But not everything is lost. The destruction or transport or concealment of certainly thousands of tons of WMD could not have been otherwise than carried out by thousands of people of all kinds of logistical and industrial skills. Now, the intelligent people surrounding Bush would just have to offer very enticing rewards and witness protection programs to anyone among the thousands who worked in the destruction or transport or concealment, to arrive definitively at the truth of the matter. The other purpose of the war is to effect regime change in Iraq by toppling Saddam Hussein. Saddam and his clique are from all appearances gone for good from Iraq. But almost immediately the fundamentalist Muslim Shi’ite clergy and faithfuls are telling the US/UK to leave Iraq alone. Rumsfeld says no way is the US going to allow any group to hijack Iraq, after the US/UK waged a war to get rid of Saddam. But the Shi’ites make up 60% of Iraqis. Is Bush going to tell them also to get out of Iraq within four days or else? And the intelligent people surrounding Bush could not foresee the inexorable emergence of the fundamentalist Shi’ite majority. Because they were seeing everything with a kind of tunnel vision. Susma Rio Sep ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/2 "2003-04-27T01:42:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Because they were seeing everything with a kind of tunnel vision. “If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It’s the light of the oncoming train.” ----Robert Lowell, American poet ---
**Author:** ![Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susma_Rio_Sep)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/3 "2003-06-24T00:12:59Z")
We are now in this date: 06-24-03. Still no weapons of mass destruction. Shall we review again the reasons Bush went into this war for? A whole country got turned upside down, thousands died, infrastructures destroyed, social institutions disrupted, and American sons and daughters are dying over there and still placed everyday in harm’s way. Bush and his war party, they have got to answer for this sad state of things. Yet, many are nonchalant and even happen the war was won. Susma Rio Sep ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/4 "2003-06-24T01:13:47Z")
And more wars are coming. Be ready. > **[MoveOn: People-Powered Progress](https://front.moveon.org/)** > > MoveOn is a community of millions of Americans from all walks of life who use innovative technology to lead, participate in, and win campaigns for progressive change. ---
**Author:** ![Clu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Clu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/5 "2003-06-24T05:13:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Susma Rio Sep \*And the intelligent people surrounding Bush could not foresee the inexorable emergence of the fundamentalist Shi’ite majority. > > Because they were seeing everything with a kind of tunnel vision. > > Susma Rio Sep This is anecdotal, but from discussions I’ve had with some, I get the impression they could care less about the negative results of US actions. More terrorism equals more terrorists to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/6 "2003-06-24T05:46:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*And more wars are coming. Be ready. > > [http://www.moveon.org/](http://www.moveon.org/) \*\* I deeply and sincerely hope that you’re wrong. However, I have a sickening feeling that you’re not. ---
**Author:** ![Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Susma\_Rio\_Sep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susma_Rio_Sep)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/7 "2003-06-29T23:00:30Z")
Lissa, we are witnessing in the confirmed endazzlement with Bush from a good majority of Americans the phenomenon of mass hypnosis. The only cure to this hypnosis is for Americans to go out of themselves and see Bush and company and the war they waged against Iraq, from outside. Look at Bush and his war the way British and Canadians and the rest of the unhypnotized world see him and his deeds, then they will have an objective and realistic picture of what Bush and company are doing to the USA, making it the most deadly species on earth. Susma Rio Sep ---
**Author:** ![Mambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@Mambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mambo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/8 "2003-06-30T13:49:24Z")
Bush did not invade Iraq because of WMDs. He invaded Iraq only so he could wear a flight suit, fly on a jet, and give a big speech on the Abraham Lincoln carrier. ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/9 "2003-06-30T17:44:45Z")
It bugs me that Saddam didn’t use the WMD he “had”. If he was being run out of Iraq, wouldn’t he use them as an act of desperation? We were told he was a madman with his finger on the button. If he destroyed them (by means other than those the U.N. wanted) why are we whining about it? He destroyed them, alright, beggars can’t be choosers. It just seems weird that he had them and didn’t use them as he was being overrun. This isn’t evidence that he never had any. I just think it’s evidence that he wouldn’t use them. I think we can call having a few hundred thousand troops rolling into your neighborhood “extenuating circumstances”. If he wouldn’t deploy them then, it leads to two possibilities: 1. He didn’t have WMD available to use. 2. He wouldn’t use them, even in extenuating circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/10 "2003-06-30T17:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quack \* > This isn’t evidence that he never had any. I just think it’s evidence that he wouldn’t use them. You genuinely believe that Saddam Hussein, the Butcher of Baghdad, Numero Uno Supremo Evildoer in the Axis of Evil Club, _refrain_ from gassing the 250,000+ American troops perched on his border? If he’s as evil as the Bush White House was insisting, Saddam would have tossed in a merry Evil Cackle™ before unleashing his full arsenal on the G.I.s. ---
**Author:** ![Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/11 "2003-07-01T03:25:52Z")
An [interesting article](http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110003688) by the former head of the biological weapons section of Unscom from 1994-1999. His conclusion: “Of course Iraq had forbidden weapons.” He also says he’s not surprised that the WMD have not yet been found, or that Hussein did not use his chemical WMD in battle. He concludes with the following: > [@](#): > > Let there be no doubt, Iraq retained an active biological-weapons program. Unscom had adequate evidence of such. In 1998, presented with the evidence, the leading biological-weapons experts from the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Romania and Canada all agreed with the Unscom findings and observations. Incredibly, U.S. and British politicians with little or no knowledge of biological weapons and biological warfare are choosing to believe otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/12 "2003-07-01T04:12:44Z")
1998?; like 1998, 5 years ago? :rolleyes: I find this particular quote very interesting if you contrast it with a certain leader who most emphatically denunced the existence of hundreds of tons of WMD “As I’ve said time and again, expecting any inspection regime to find a massive cache of WMDs is a lesson in self-delusion. Such folly can only bring cheer to those who opposed the war in the first place and to those who simply oppose the Bush administration.” In the next paragraph it talks about how Iraq hid the weapons during GWI; may I ask how does he know where the weapons had been hidden?, perhaps because someone found them? But hold on; there´s still more; a little bit further down he enlightens us about the reasons Hussein didn´t use WMD on US/UK troops: “their interest was to use biological weapons to intimidate their neighbors and cause them to “see things Iraq’s way.” Thus its failure to use biological WMDs should not be a surprise to anyone.” Soooo… Iraq didn`t intend to use WMD against the USA or UK in the first place, so much for imminent threat. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/13 "2003-07-01T04:20:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Bush: why Iraq’s WMD can’t be found… I figured it out! They were shredded by Arthur Andersen!! ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/14 "2003-07-01T18:34:07Z")
Well, you can’t deny the possibility of Saddam using the nukes he was going to build in 2012 against the USA. That alone justifies any invasion 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/15 "2003-07-01T18:49:10Z")
According to Sen. Frist (R-TN), Senate Majority Leader, when interviewed by Matt Lauer on “Today” last week, the reason that WMDs haven’t been found is because (approximate quote) “What people don’t understand is that viruses and bacteria are very tiny and hard to see”. This is the best spin, apparently, that the flying monkeys in the White House can come up with…teeny tiny little WMDs that can’t be found because they’re apparently being hidden under a thimble somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![ChaosGod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@ChaosGod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChaosGod)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/16 "2003-07-01T18:52:52Z")
Even if Saddam had enough bio-chemical weapons to make a dent on the invading US army, it wouldn’t have been enough to stop the military juggernaut. By not using them, he further discredited US arguments for the invasion. As a result, US credibility is now sub-zero. But, it now seems likely that the stuff was long gone. It seems clear that the actual war, with all its horrors, was unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/17 "2003-07-01T18:57:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChaosGod \* > \*\*It seems clear that the actual war, with all its horrors, was unnecessary. \*\* While it may _seem_ clear, _apparently_ it’s not. ( 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-why-iraqs-wmd-cant-be-found/171305/18 "2003-07-01T20:16:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > **According to Sen. Frist (R-TN), Senate Majority Leader, when interviewed by Matt Lauer on “Today” last week, the reason that WMDs haven’t been found is because (approximate quote) “What people don’t understand is that viruses and bacteria are very tiny and hard to see”.** And _he_ should know, because _he’s_ a _doc_-terr.