# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/161 "2003-04-15T19:00:51Z")
Afraid to inform you that the fancy buried labs were used to produce convential weapons. They may have been buried to protect them from airstrikes or even to prevent looting. I can’t find a cite yet, but I heard this on CNN from a US serviceman. Keep an eye out for the story. Looks like the OP’s family jewels are safe for another day. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/162 "2003-04-15T20:05:30Z")
[Link to the article quoted below](http://www.ilovebacon.com/041403/k.shtml) News reports have filtered out early this morning that US forces have swooped on an Iraqi Primary School and detained teacher Mohammed Al-Hazar. Sources indicate that, when arrested, Al-Hazar was in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square and a calculator. US President George W Bush argued that this was clear and overwhelming evidence that Iraq did indeed possess weapons of math instruction. :p:p:p ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/163 "2003-04-15T21:43:10Z")
That joke ought to be taken out and _nuked_, Dave. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/164 "2003-04-15T22:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > \*\*I note that in the story from the link posted by **E-Sabbath** , the “things” are described as “vans,” and I have seen other speculation that these are like the things Powell referred to in his UN speech that could be driven around the highways indefinitely. But these things are 20 feet by 20 feet. I would hardly call something more than twice the width of a semi trailer a “van.” … \*\* No, that’s “20 square feet” about 4’x5’. I’ve seen one story today, which I’m trying to find again, that describes the scene as lab equipment in buried packing crates. That’s a rough quote, I know, because I’ve been googling to find the story since coming across this thread today. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/165 "2003-04-15T22:38:07Z")
[Tests rule out suspect bio-labs](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/15/sprj.irq.no.labs/index.html): > [@](#): > > KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) – The buried labs U.S. troops found last week were not the mobile chemical and biological weapons labs one U.S. Army general suspected, according to the head of an expert team brought in to examine them. > > The 11 cargo containers were filled with new laboratory equipment apparently intended to make conventional weapons, said team leader Chief Warrant Officer 2 Monte Gonzalez. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/166 "2003-04-15T23:05:46Z")
**Stricker** sez: > [@](#): > > …My last comment still stands, though. The proof of these weapons had better turn up, or the shit will hit the fan, big time… I’m not so sure. It certainly should, no doubt. But there have been any number of weapons-grade bullshit bombs unloaded on the American public. The great “uranium debacle” is only the most recent. The Bushistas simply shrugged thier shoulders and kept on going. They’ll just claim that they’re in Syria, or buried in the desert, or hidden somewhere else and hey! lets see that footage of the statue again. Interesting note about that statue: the soldier who first put that flag on the statues head says he was told to. More interestingly, that flag had special mojo: it had been flying over the Pentagon on 9/11. They took it along when they went to Iraq, apparently under the presumption that the war on Iraq had some direct bearing on revenge for 9/11. No matter how many times you repeat the obvious truth, it bounces off like popcorn. At least we got Saddam to pay for Pearl Harbor! ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/167 "2003-04-15T23:40:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Interesting note about that statue: the soldier who first put that flag on the statues head says he was told to. More interestingly, that flag had special mojo: it had been flying over the Pentagon on 9/11. They took it along when they went to Iraq, apparently under the presumption that the war on Iraq had some direct bearing on revenge for 9/11. No matter how many times you repeat the obvious truth, it bounces off like popcorn. Do you have a cite for that info? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/168 "2003-04-16T00:02:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*[Tests rule out suspect bio-labs](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/15/sprj.irq.no.labs/index.html): \*\* > [@](#): > > The containers held equipment typically found in laboratories, including test tubes, water baths, sand baths, **ph transmitters** , explosive-proof lights, ethyl alcohol gauges, shakers, test tubes, test tube holders, and temperature and pressure gauges. I wonder if that pH transmitter has a range of over 90 miles ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/169 "2003-04-16T00:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boyo Jim \* > \*\*No, that’s “20 square feet” about 4’x5’. I’ve seen one story today, which I’m trying to find again, that describes the scene as lab equipment in buried packing crates. That’s a rough quote, I know, because I’ve been googling to find the story since coming across this thread today. \*\* Well, I guess it is academic at this point, but the original [CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/14/sprj.irq.labs/index.html) said “20 feet square,” which means 20 feet x 20 feet. I don’t know which I find less believable - a 20 foot wide “mobile” lab, or a 4 or 5 foot wide lab/portapotty. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/170 "2003-04-16T02:17:08Z")
[Here ya go](http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6268602%255E25440,00.html), **Tars** : > [@](#): > > The Stars and Stripes used by US Marine Corporal Ed Chin to cover the statue in Baghdad’s Firdos Square was under the debris at the Pentagon following the September 11 al-Qaeda terrorist attack. > It was given to Marine First Lieutenant Tim McLaughlin at the Pentagon. In Firdos Square, he handed the flag to Cpl Chin, who climbed a giant statue of Saddam and draped it over the deposed dictator’s head – a moment that will be etched in history. Also [here.](http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/Primetime/Iraq030410USFlagStatue.html) > [@](#): > > Chin, of the 3rd battalion, 4th Marines regiment, says he was just following orders in the minutes before the statue was pulled to the ground in a joint effort by jubilant Iraqis and U.S. troops. > > “I was just trying my best to get the chain around his neck and put the flag on his head,” Chin told ABCNEWS’ Good Morning America. “Pretty much at the moment I was just doing what I was told to do by my commanding officer,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/171 "2003-04-16T02:20:08Z")
Flag story cite, amongst several: [http://www.boston.com/dailynews/101/region/Laconia\_soldier\_s\_flag\_draped\_:.shtml](http://www.boston.com/dailynews/101/region/Laconia_soldier_s_flag_draped_:.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/172 "2003-04-16T03:17:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > “20 feet square,” which means 20 feet x 20 feet. Nope. 1 sq. ft. is a square 1 ft x 1 ft. 2 sq. ft is a square 1 ft x 2 ft. Etc. 5 ft x 4 ft = 20 sq. ft. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/173 "2003-04-16T03:19:20Z")
Oh wait. You said “20 feet square,” which is ambiguous at best. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/174 "2003-04-16T03:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*Nope. 1 sq. ft. is a square 1 ft x 1 ft. 2 sq. ft is a square 1 ft x 2 ft. Etc. 5 ft x 4 ft = 20 sq. ft. \*\* sq. ft. is not the same as ft. sq. sq. ft is a proper area unit while ft. sq is a more informal way of saying a square of that side. 20 ft sq means a square of 20 x 20 At any rate, it could easily be done by putting two trilers side by sidde as is often done. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/175 "2003-04-16T05:15:25Z")
keen, thanx all ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/176 "2003-04-16T05:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > **Stricker** sez: > > > [@](#): > > > > The proof of these weapons had better turn up, or the shit will hit the fan, big time… > > I’m not so sure. It certainly should, no doubt. But there have been any number of weapons-grade bullshit bombs unloaded on the American public. The great “uranium debacle” is only the most recent. The Bushistas simply shrugged thier shoulders and kept on going. They’ll just claim that they’re in Syria, or buried in the desert, or hidden somewhere else and hey! lets see that footage of the statue again. I’m with **luce** on this one. I’m pretty sure that if no evidence that Iraq had WMD is found, the shit will not hit the fan. The administration apologists will shrug and change the subject or note what an evil man Saddam was. The great unwashed in the US won’t notice they’ve been bullshitted. Anyone who notes that the motivation for the War was hogwash will be painted as partisan or a treasonous America-hater. Oh, wait – all of this has already come true. Golly. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/177 "2003-04-16T08:29:16Z")
About the flag incident: correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t draping the flag over a statue against the protocol? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/178 "2003-04-16T09:29:01Z")
> [@](#): > > The great unwashed in the US won’t notice they’ve been bullshitted. It’s always the other group that’s unwashed, isn’t it? Maybe all those Kurds were engaged in the well-known ritual of simultaneous asphyxiation and spontaneous esophageal rupture. Happens all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/179 "2003-04-16T11:11:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*Oh wait. You said “20 feet square,” which is ambiguous at best. Nevermind. \*\* _Let it die, let it die…_ I can’t! 20 feet square is not in fact “ambiguous at best.” It has a specific meaning. It means, as one might expect, 20 feet, squared, or a square of 20 feet on each side. Even a Home Depot weekend warrior like myself would understand a specific meaning to such dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145/180 "2003-04-16T12:08:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*It’s always the other group that’s unwashed, isn’t it? Maybe all those Kurds were engaged in the well-known ritual of simultaneous asphyxiation and spontaneous esophageal rupture. Happens all the time. \*\* Darn right! Saddam is an evil, evil man! Or was. At any rate, that proves that everything the Admin said was true! Can’t fool ol’ **Lib** , boy, he knows the cogent fact when he hears it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-on-a-limb-there-aint-any-wmd-you-stupid-shits/168145.md?page=10)