Okay, forgive me if this has been done before. We all “know” Saddam’s a bad guy, we “know” what he’d like to do, but what’s the current evidence against him? Do we have sat photos showing things that look suspicious, spy reports, or is it just a vague general feeling that we need to take him out?
The same topic has several threads active in GD. . . .
Has Iraq ever done anything to the USA?
Does Tony Blair know something we don’t?
War against Iraq – inevitable?!
The Emperors (new) Gulf War clothes
Do we really need another thread in GQ?
Well, most of those seem to be filled with opinions. I was kind of hoping that there might be some hard documentation available.
I don’t think anything has been released intel-wise. I’ve seen hints in the media that there is some hard evidence (from anonymous insiders), but I don’t have much faith that there is. I think the administration would be pushing it hard if it really existed, even if it meant compromising the source. Hopefully, we’ll find out for sure on the 11/12th when Bush starts talking.
Well, FWIW.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/07/31/senate.iraq.hearing/
So we’re talking “intelligence estimates”, whatever they base those on.
And–W seems to feel the burden of proof is on Saddam to prove that he’s not developing WOMD.
http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/conflict/bushsada.htm
Note that this was last November.
Satellite photos show that Saddam has been building cropdusters and doing construction work at his bombed-out nuclear facilities. The nuke plant pictures at least are popping up on news sites. There’s much speculation as to what meaning should be attached to the photos.
According to the CIA, Iraq has not reneged on its commitment to the nuclear test ban treaty.
Of course we do, the threads in GD all suffer from wild speculation as to what the facts mean. That tends to obscure what the facts are.
Here is an article from yesterday’s Washington Post regarding satellite photos which could reveal “suspicious” activity.
Here is an article at Space.com which shows some of those photos and discusses what might be going on in them.
The photos from Space.com, and apparently all the other ones that appeared in the last few days, seem to come from this 1999 State Department report. Has anyone seen more current images ?
The evidence against Iraq is discussed here. Bottom line–it’s ambiguous.
Iraq was completing its nuclear armament when Israel knocked them out in 1981. It then set in rebuilding them and were about finished, when we attacked them in 1991. 10-year period for them to reestablish its nuclear delivery capabilities? If so, it has already done so or is about to do so again.
Germ warfare against the Kurds and others by Iraq has been well documented. There is no doubt it has these means of mass destruction. Other countries have them too, but other countries did not agree to inspections to make sure they don’t have them. Iraq, as part of the truce, agreed to such inspections, but has reneged. Thus, its right to maintain the truce was forfeited.
The last time a country aqreed with international authority to refrain from doing something was Germany after WWI. Hitler just ignored the promises made, and we all know the consequences of that when the international community looked the other way.
The evidence is also all a couple years out of date because the administration has not seen fit to put together a new intelligence assessment: U.S. Lacks Up-to-Date Review of Iraqi Arms
:smack: :eek: 
:rolleyes: :mad: -or some such.