# Going out on a limb. There AIN'T any WMD, you stupid shits. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 11, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145 "2003-04-11T23:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/61 "2003-04-12T05:56:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skankweirdall \* > **Coldfire I saw where you posted earlier you were born in '73. I was born in '57. … My dad served in Japan in WWII, I was drafted during the Vietnam war. …** If you were born in '57, you were LIKE HELL drafted in the Vietnam conflict. I was born in '57, and y’know what? I wasn’t eligible for the draft. So everything you say now comes under a cloud of suspicion. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/62 "2003-04-12T06:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*Hasn’t Skank back pedaled enough? He got busted…let him be. \*\* No. He is an admitted liar. I can see no reason to listen to anything he has to say, in the past, present or future. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/63 "2003-04-12T06:06:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*How hard is it to move a warhead? \*\* It’s pretty damn easy. But considering the number of desperate and illegal tactics used by the Iraqis in this war already, I would expect a movement at high speed in a ballistic arc _towards_ the enemy. If I were to take your point at face value, I guess that would mean that this war has actually lead to Iraqi WMD escaping central control and their proliferation to other, perhaps somewhat less rational groups. IIRC, that exact scenario was lined up as an argument _against_ this war months ago. Seems to me that if this war has failed to contain the WMD, it has increased the threat of them actually being used. Great. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/64 "2003-04-12T06:23:19Z")
Hey, **This Year’s Model** , I get the feeling you replied to that as soon as you read it, instead of reading the next fifty posts first. Free advice, buddy. Always read the whole thread before you post a rebuttal to a particular assertion. If you had done the reading, you would have seen that at least three other people called **skankweirdall** on his assertion (including **Coldfire,** to whom he originally made the assertion), and he’s already retracted it at least once, AND he’s gotten touchy with at least one other poster over the issue of late hits on this point. I don’t share his views about the legitimacy of the invasion as it transpired, but I feel his position on that is being adequately attacked without resorting to a pile-on over an already-retracted misstatement. **skankweirdall** , I hope your son comes home well and whole, in body and mind, and soul. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/65 "2003-04-12T06:30:42Z")
I’ll say weapons in enough quantity to cause a serious terrorist threat, or military use in quantity, or an ongoing nuclear program. Something big enough for Saddam to be willing to give up $380 billion dollars in sanctions and risk losing his entire regime to protect. Remember, Saddam could have avoided all this simply by submitting a realistic declaration (which no one, including the French and Germans, think he did), and by agreeing to every order of the Security Council. You think he did all that just for yucks? No, he had a big strategic weapon he didn’t want to give up, or was he in the middle of developing one? Either way, we’ll find out about it soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/66 "2003-04-12T06:54:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* > \*\*Anyone who wishes for American foreign policy to maintain an ounce of credibility. \*\* I think we already blew that sometime around when we stole all the land from the Indians.😉 Aside from a couple memorable moments like defeating Hitler, it’s been downhill ever since. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/67 "2003-04-12T07:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fugazi \* > With over 1000 sites to check, it’s unrealistic to expectd pay dirt within the first 2%. But why bother checking the _possible_ sites? After all, Colin Powell went before the United Nations and tried to feed them the Administration line – e.g., that the United States _already knew_ where the WMDs were hidden, but didn’t want to tell anyone so as not to spoil the surprise. As the OP states, since the U.S. now pretty much has control of Iraq, we should be able to simply say “we found this WMD stockpile veery quickly because we knew all along that Saddam was hiding WMDs at this location,” yadda yadda yadda. If the U.S. has to resort to guesswork to find WMDs, then we’re no more efficient than Hans Blix was – except Blix didn’t need a war to do the job. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/68 "2003-04-12T07:19:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*I’ll say weapons in enough quantity to cause a serious terrorist threat, or military use in quantity, or an ongoing nuclear program. > > Something big enough for Saddam to be willing to give up $380 billion dollars in sanctions and risk losing his entire regime to protect. > > Remember, Saddam could have avoided all this simply by submitting a realistic declaration (which no one, including the French and Germans, think he did), and by agreeing to every order of the Security Council. You think he did all that just for yucks?\*\* Here’s the mother of all conspiracy theories. Saddam is, at root, a philanthropist. He went through all this just so he would be able to deny the succession to his crazy sons. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/69 "2003-04-12T08:22:49Z")
I’ll leave the question of whether or not they _had_ WOMD to others, and will ask my stupid question: If they _had_ WOMD, why haven’t they used them? Even if they were aquiring them with a mind of turning them on one of their neighbors, it would seem the main reason to have them would be for defense, wouldn’t it? Now a far superior force, in terms of training, eqipment and sheer numbers, has invaded your country with the intention of kicking your scrawny ass off the planet. Why not play your _last_ card? Isn’t that we’d do? Maybe I’m thinking too much in western terms. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/70 "2003-04-12T08:24:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*I meant, “I’ve got a nice crisp $20 bill for anyone willing to wager that WMD WON’T be found in Iraq within the next month”. \*\* I have a more interesting bet for you. I have a friend who owns a quarter section of land(160 acres). I’ll take a litre bottle of water (anyone know how many people a litre of Sarin(sp?) would kill?) and hide it there. It might be in a tree, it might be in the buildings, or it might be buried. I’ll even leave clues as to where it is. I’ll give you as much time as you want and I’ll even give you good odds. See if you can find it. BUT, I ain’t promising that the clues will all be true (or any of them for that matter). You can try to get the information out of my friend, but he may, or may not, know where it is. He may, or may not, want to help you. He may, in fact, just call the police and have you arrested for trespassing (if he’s in a good mood and doesn’t take a shot at you himself that is!). I ain’t promising that the bottle will be in the same location all the time. And I ain’t promising that the bottle will even be on the property. It could be in the neighbors across the lane. What do you think your odds of finding it would be? Now imagine if you had to search an entire country for items like this? I think they probably will find WoMD. But it probably won’t be right away until things calm down a bit and people can concentrate on that instead of dodging bullets. ---
**Author:** ![skankweirdall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@skankweirdall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skankweirdall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/71 "2003-04-12T12:50:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pantom \* > \*\ ***skank** , I was born the same year as you and I never even registered for the draft. Wasn’t required at all for a while after Vietnam. Read the following: > > From [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-214.html](http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-214.html) \*\* Again. I wasn’t drafted but I still had to register. I was born in January and as I recall the registration requirement was stopped a week or so afterwards. I still have my draft card, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![skankweirdall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@skankweirdall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skankweirdall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/72 "2003-04-12T13:01:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*\ ***skankweirdall** , I hope your son comes home well and whole, in body and mind, and soul. \*\* Thanks. I hope he does as well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/73 "2003-04-12T13:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skankweirdall \* > I still have my draft card, somewhere. Have you considered getting _radical_ and burning it ? I did in ~79. It was a completely pointless, futile exercise, yet oddly satisfying. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![skankweirdall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@skankweirdall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skankweirdall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/74 "2003-04-12T13:28:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Valgard \* > \*\*I have to take issue with some of this. If the President can’t make a convincing case for us to go to war based on Exhibit A (“SH & Co. are nasty brutal SOBs and the Iraqi people will be better with them pushing up the daisies”) then it’s not kosher for him to drag out Exhibit B (“SH has WMD”) when there’s serious doubts about the veracity of B and expect us all to go along with it. Our courts don’t work that way (“OK we couldn’t get him on anything but he’s mean and deserves to be in jail so here’s some trumped-up charge to put him there”) and I really don’t want my government to operate that way either. That’s just dishonest and it gives me a very bad feeling about the trustworthiness of the current administration. > > I guess that I’m part of the antiwar crowd (because I don’t think that the case has been made that war is necessary, not because of any love for SH or dislike of GWB), and I don’t know anyone who has suggested that the US would plant evidence of WMD to justify the war after the fact. I’m sure that there are some loudmouths saying this but don’t judge everyone by that and the presence or absence of WMD is not a moot point to me or anyone that I know. \*\* Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think any government is totally honest so I have no expectations that the next one will be. I think part of the presidents job is in fact to be a salesman, not just to the US, but to the world in some matters. Salesman are known to stretch the the truth from time to time. We all know that. Hanging around car salesman for the past 28 years may have compromised my expectations here but I still stand by my original assertion that we put SH there, we needed to take him out. As far as the planting of WoMD goes I’ve already heard that on a talk show. If and/or when any are found the legitamacy of the find will have already been called into question. So in my mind it has effectively rendered it a nonissue. Maybe not to everyone but certainly to the committed far left and a few fence sitters. ---
**Author:** ![skankweirdall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@skankweirdall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skankweirdall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/75 "2003-04-12T13:30:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* > \*\*Have you considered getting _radical_ and burning it ? I did in ~79. It was a completely pointless, futile exercise, yet oddly satisfying. 🙂 \*\* I never thought about that.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/76 "2003-04-12T14:07:34Z")
\>\> I think part of the presidents job is in fact to be a salesman, not just to the US, but to the world in some matters. Well, on that account this president has failed miserably. He has been unable to sell the war to the rest of the world and to a great segment of the American public. President Bush the senior did a much better job of selling it the first time around. ---
**Author:** ![skankweirdall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@skankweirdall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skankweirdall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/77 "2003-04-12T14:11:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*\>\> I think part of the presidents job is in fact to be a salesman, not just to the US, but to the world in some matters. > > Well, on that account this president has failed miserably. He has been unable to sell the war to the rest of the world and to a great segment of the American public. President Bush the senior did a much better job of selling it the first time around. \*\* I won’t deny that. He did a terrible job of that. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/78 "2003-04-12T15:07:51Z")
Before the war I would have guessed that the Iraqis would have some WMDs. But it does seem odd that they never used them. Perhaps they did try to use them and we’re just not aware of it. From what I understand, chemical & biological weapons are often fairly ineffective. Also, it is possible that the Iraqis thought they would have more time to prepare. I imagine they expected a month or two of bombing before a ground assault. My guess is that we’ll find them, but not oodles of them. In any event, I think it’s reasonably clear that the WMD argument was something of a pretext. I have mixed feelings about this - I don’t like the way that politicians lie, but the reality is that they all do. What bothers me most is people who are shocked shocked at Republican lies but not bothered by Democratic lies. (or vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/79 "2003-04-12T15:10:19Z")
and BTW, I was born in '70. I had to fill out a draft registration form, but that was it. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/80 "2003-04-12T15:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by This Year’s Model \* > \*\*No. He is an admitted liar. I can see no reason to listen to anything he has to say, in the past, present or future. \*\* He won’t even own up to it. Blames it on editing or drug abuse etc. Hard to forgive someone who doesn’t fess up. and I agree on his credibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145.md?page=5)