# If Saddam is hiding his arsenal in people's homes, how should we respond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 29, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457 "2002-11-29T05:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/1 "2002-11-29T05:33:05Z")
According to the [Times of London](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-496333,00.html), > [@](#): > > SADDAM HUSSEIN has ordered hundreds of his officials to conceal weapons of mass destruction components in their homes to evade the prying eyes of the United Nations inspectors. > > According to a stream of intelligence now emerging from inside Iraq, the full extent of the Iraqi leader’s deception operation is now becoming apparent. As the UN inspectors knock on the doors of the major military sites in Iraq, suspected of housing chemical and biological weapons and banned missiles, the bulk of the evidence is being secreted away in people’s homes. These reports make it all the more likely that Saddam may possess large amounts of WMDs, but the UN inspectors may be unable to locate them. If the inspections are unreliable, then ISTM we have two unsatisfactory choices: Attack Iraq, even though no WMDs were found, or don’t attack, allowing Saddam to continue to stockpile ever more powerful WMDs. Which of these options is better? Or, can anyone think of other, better courses of action? ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/2 "2002-11-29T05:40:34Z")
December, you can store a bomb in somebody’s basement. You cannot hide the massive chemical processing facilities necessary to create these weapons, and this, I suppose is our real concern. Additionally, assuming that these weapons are widely distributed, all that American intelligence services/UN weapons inspectors must do is find a couple of these weapons in private homes to adequately demonstrate that the Iraqi government is attempting to conceal and protect their WMD’s. Hey, I’m as hawkish as the next guy, 😉 but a consistent routine of unfettered weapons inspectons should be capable of revealing an Iraqi weapons program. I’m sure someone else would be glad to weigh in. ---
**Author:** ![NaSultainne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NaSultainne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NaSultainne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/3 "2002-11-29T21:53:51Z")
Damn. Let me qualify my remarks thusly: I am not _for_ war with Iraq. I am _for_ elimination of the weaponry Saddam Hussein seems hellbent to retain and develop, with force as the last option. Okay, now, also let me say that I have actively searched for expert opinion on the validity of weapons inspections in Iraq. I have read articles, transcripts, or watched live coverage of past inspectors in news interviews as well as testimony given before Congress. Among those inspectors are Dr. David Kay, Dr. Richard Spertzel, Tim McCarthy, Terry Taylor, David Franz and Tim Trevan. The media include Frontline, Nightline, VOA and C-SPAN coverage of the House Armed Svcs. Committee. And these are just the names and occasions I have noted specifically. I’ve also caught as much in the general news from cable as anyone, I dare say. In short, I’ve tried to pay attention to the bulk of available information regarding this situation. And, yes, I have heard Scott Ritter and his point of view. My conclusion is this: inspections are likely a waste of time. As Tim McCarthy noted in the Nightline segment, which was largely repeated just last night, in the course of several years’ involving hundreds if not thousands of inspections, the Iraqi’s were surprised by inspections less than a dozen times. This ought to cause avid supporters of inspections at any cost to reflect on just what _could_ be accomplished through this course of action. So, what do I expect to see? Continuation of the same. Inspections that uncover nothing. Decreasing cooperation by the Iraqi’s commensurate with a drop in news coverage. An increasing lack of availability of scientists, information, aw heck, the same ol’ hide and seek previous inspectors are all too clear about. But even this won’t be sufficient to convince doubters. Here’s the problem in a nutshell; for all the news regarding Saddam and his manipulation of the UN mandate of disarmament, unless this information is in black and white, too many will continue to discredit the source or conclusion, leaving Saddam wiggle room and war inadvisable. In other words, it’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove. So, to make my point after much length, the U.S. should put Saddam on notice that the very first evidence of non-cooperation will result in the bombing of one of his many palaces. Keep the Iraqi people out of it, as much as humanly possible. Punish the man responsible. Focus. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/4 "2002-11-29T23:02:39Z")
Gives a whole new meaning to the term “nuclear family,” doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![w.bc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed655f/32.png) [@w.bc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/w.bc)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/5 "2002-11-29T23:27:29Z")
whenever a weapons inspector is refused access to a site, it should be noted (maybe he should have a GPS unit in his pocket). When the inspectors are satisfied that they will not be able to find any more WMDs, they should leave, along with all foreign citizens. At that time, all sites to which they have been denied access should be destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![w.bc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed655f/32.png) [@w.bc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/w.bc)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/6 "2002-11-29T23:33:29Z")
If someone at the CIA is thinking, they should do whatever necessary to take over the Al-Jazeera signal (temporarily) (at least in Iraq) and announce that the locations of all the hidden laboratories, storage sites, production facilities, etc. have been discovered. At that point, every surveillance satellite available should be pointed down over Iraq. When you see the roaches running, you can finally find out where they’ve been holed up. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/7 "2002-11-30T04:35:49Z")
Uh, taking over Al-Jazeera would be _massively_ out of character for the US. Couldn’t the same effect be achieved by dropping leaflets, like we have already been doing? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/8 "2002-11-30T09:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by w.bc \* > **…they should … announce that the locations of all the hidden laboratories, storage sites, production facilities, etc. have been discovered…** Too risky… what if they call our bluff? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by w.bc \* > **At that time, all sites to which they have been denied access should be destroyed.** The thing is, just because a home is hiding a weapon, doesn’t mean that the folks living there want it there. This is Iraq. And if we go around bombing people’s homes, weapons or not, then we’re killing innocent Iraqi citizens. Hell, Saddam might force people to stay at home during such a bombing so he can show what barbarians the US are. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/9 "2002-11-30T11:40:22Z")
Actually, I’m not so sure that “massive” facilities are required. Maybe they’re just similar to meth labs. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/10 "2002-11-30T12:06:54Z")
See, if everyone believed in my American Empire, this would be so much easier to handle… _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-saddam-is-hiding-his-arsenal-in-peoples-homes-how-should-we-respond/139457/11 "2002-11-30T19:21:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Gives a whole new meaning to the term “nuclear family,” doesn’t it? \*\* [A nefarious plot.](http://www.theonion.com/onion3843/nuclear_families.html)