# No smoking gun? NO SMOKING GUN?? \[in Iraq\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 27, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306 "2003-01-27T19:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/101 "2003-01-31T15:52:36Z")
May be, **december**. My point is that it’s not surprising that Mr. Powell has changed his moderate tone to join step with the Administration now that crunch time approaches. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/102 "2003-01-31T16:12:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > \*\ ***December** , I am sorry, but I am having a hard time confirming that Schwarzkopf was even on the NBC Today Show at all this morning, let alone what he said. I’ve checked the NBC web site, the Today Show pages, and nothing yet. Any suggestions? \*\* I can vouch that Schwarzkopf _was_ in fact on the _Today Show_ Wednesday morning. Katie Couric was interviewing him during the show’s first 30 minutes. If you care to, one of us can start a thread in Cafe Society and get further testimony that Schwarzkopf was on the _Today Show_ Wednesday morning. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/103 "2003-01-31T16:22:14Z")
Also, anyone right now can run a Google search on “Norman Schwarzkopf”, “Today Show”, and click on the [www.msnbc.com/m/v/video\_news.asp+%22Norman+Schwarzkopf%22,+%22Today+Show%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:4YYatOBNol8C:%5Burl)"]CACHED version of Wednesday’s MSNBC TV News page. The link may not work for very much longer, because Google goes out and caches more recent versions periodically. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/104 "2003-01-31T16:26:39Z")
Link above does not work. Just access that page via the Google search outlined above. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/105 "2003-01-31T16:50:46Z")
Colin Powell may be ambitious, but not for the title or the collateral problems of being President. He may simply want to become the most influential person in defining foreign policy in this administration, which he hasn’t been so far. Now that it’s clear that Bush will not be dissuaded by mere facts or consideration of consequences or anyone elses’ views, if Powell keeps up saying responsible things in public he’ll simply be shunted aside and the children will be uncontrolled. By staying part of the team, he still has some influence that can be asserted privately. At least I hope so. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/106 "2003-01-31T17:27:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Link above does not work. Just access that page via the Google search outlined above. \*\* Tried it, thanks. I got to the same page that I got by searching on Norman Schwarzkopf Today Show NBC. I still could find nothing saying that he was on the show, nor (obviously) giving any indication of what he might have said. They seemed to have descriptions of most of the other stuff that was on the show that day, but they leave Stormin Norman out in the cold, I guess. Since you saw it, what did he say? I have sent an email to the Today Show. I am very curious why this is so hard to find. As to Colin Powell’s change of heart, I think that there must be a coded message in [this](http://slate.msn.com/id/2077941/) quote from Dubya: > [@](#): > > “And, most importantly, Alma Powell, secretary of Colin Powell, is with us.”—Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2003 Maybe he has some dirt on Powell? I also found further insight into [Bush’s](http://slate.msn.com/id/76886/) motivations for war: > [@](#): > > “There’s only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I’ve got an additional responsibility to hug and that’s me and I know what it’s like.”—Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002 Obviously, he just wants to give more hugs! Is that so wrong? Here’s to hoping he doesn’t have to give any more. ---
**Author:** ![anonplz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@anonplz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anonplz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/107 "2003-01-31T17:31:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe he has some dirt on Powell?.. > > Obviously, he just wants to give more hugs! Is that so wrong? ROFLMAO! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/108 "2003-01-31T17:54:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > I have sent an email to the Today Show. I am very curious why this is so hard to find. Maybe the reason is media bias. Maybe Schwartzkopf’s opposition to the war was given widespread coverage, but his change of heart was not big news, since it didn’t agree with the media’s POV. An instance of media bias seems to have happened two days ago, when 8 European leaders publicly announced their support for the US. The story was headline news in many other organs, but it didn’t even get reported in yesterday’s New York Times. (Maybe they consider support and praise for the US not to be a part of “All the news that’s fit to print.” Or, consider the example of Retired General Brent Scowcroft. He got huge amounts of coverage after August 15, 2002, when he [apparently recommended against attacking Iraq](http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/02.08/0823scowcroft_saddam.htm). But, he dropped off the radar screen when [he changed his mind](http://ffip.com/interviews090902.htm) (or clarified his position). > [@](#): > > I feel much better now because I think the direction the president is taking I think is exactly the right direction, to reach out, to get our friends, to get our allies, to get the U.N. involved. That’s exactly what I was trying to get across. I suspect that Schwartzkopf was invited to appear on NBC Today because he took an anti-war position. I hope that perky Katie Couric had a cow when he gave the “wrong” answer. :eek: > [@](#): > > **Hentor the Barbarian** > As to Colin Powell’s change of heart, I think that there must be a coded message in this quote from Dubya [“And, most importantly, Alma Powell, secretary of Colin Powell, is with us.”]—:Maybe he has some dirt on Powell? **Hentor** , are you seriously proposing that Bush is blackmailing Powell! And, he is advertising the blackmail by making coded comments! Please say I have misinterpreted your comment or that it was a joke. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/109 "2003-01-31T18:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by december \*\*\* > …An instance of media bias seems to have happened two days ago, when 8 European leaders publicly announced their support for the US. The story was headline news in many other organs, but it didn’t even get reported in yesterday’s New York Times. (Maybe they consider support and praise for the US not to be a part of “All the news that’s fit to print.”_\* I heard about that. On NPR no less. Better pull them back into the fold! > [@](#): > > **Or, consider the example of Retired General Brent Scowcroft… But, he dropped off the radar screen when [he changed his mind](http://ffip.com/interviews090902.htm) (or clarified his position).** Well, perhaps he didn’t change his position, while Bush did (since, if you recall, he wasn’t quite ready to involve the UN and inspections, reportedly until Powell urged him to change his mind. From your linked article: > [@](#): > > Just yesterday, the vice president said on NBC on “Meet the Press,” he said Saddam Hussein is connected to Al Qaeda, if only because both of them want to drive the United States out of the Middle East and both of them want to strike the United States. > > BRENT SCOWCROFT: Vice President Cheney is a very dear friend of mine. Not all my good friends are always right. I’m not even saying he is wrong. What I really am saying is that suppose there had been no 9/11 attack at all. Saddam Hussein would still be doing exactly what he is doing. He is not a problem for us because of terrorism. He is a problem because of his own objectives. > [@](#): > > BRENT SCOWCROFT: I don’t know that I am because I don’t know what I don’t know. What I have seen and most of it is in the papers, and so on. I see Saddam doing the same thing he was doing in 1990. He was buying aluminum rods. He was buying things. He was trying to build centrifuges. He is still trying. > > But in a decade, he hasn’t succeeded. So I’m not saying don’t go after him. I’m saying let’s put it all in perspective and remember that when we go after him, we need to have the support of the world community behind us because we need that support for the war on terrorism. > [@](#): > > \*\*DECEMBER: …are you seriously proposing that Bush is blackmailing Powell! And, he is advertising the blackmail by making coded comments! Please say I have misinterpreted your comment or that it was a joke. \*\* It was a joke. Didn’t think I’d need to say that! You can’t take everything you read seriously, december. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/110 "2003-01-31T18:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > **Tried it, thanks. I got to the same page that I got by searching on Norman Schwarzkopf Today Show NBC. I still could find nothing saying that he was on the show, nor (obviously) giving any indication of what he might have said.** The picture of Schwarzkopf on that cached [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com) page is attributed to “The Today Show”, as opposed to “AP” or “Reuters” That’s your proof he was on the show Wednesday. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > **Since you saw it, what did he say?** It was a mixed bag. While Schwarzkopf expressed faith that Powell’s presentation next week would reveal damning evidence, he suprised me a lot by taking jabs at Donald Rumsfeld. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear the entire segment. However, I was able to find a summary of his comments to Katie Couric [here](http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200301/PEN20030129a.shtml). Though the link is from [Townhall.com](http://Townhall.com), if you don’t hold the source against the article and just weigh it on its content, it proves to be a well-balanced piece. Note the quotes below: > [@](#): > > \*\*But on Wednesday, Gen.Schwarzkopf told NBC’s Today show he thought President Bush’s State of the Union speech was “very compelling,” and he said he looks forward to hearing the declassified information that Secretary of State Colin Powell will share with the world later this week. > > “Saddam’s got to go,” Schwarzkopf said Wednesday morning. “He’s a monster in every single way you can think of and with the linkage to the terrorists, it’s scary what in fact could be done.” > … > Schwarzkopf said he expects key facts to emerge when Powell speaks later this week. “I think that the intelligence people obviously have information about activities, and I think you’re going to see proof of those activities that show that in fact Saddam Hussein still has nuclear weapons or chemical weapons or biological weapons in his possession and has in fact hidden them someplace…I think that there’s going to be conclusive evidence to show that he has not destroyed all the weapons that they say he’s destroyed.” > … > The general told NBC he would like to see the U.N. weapons inspectors come up with more hard evidence. “But I just think the time has come. We’ve kicked this football up and down the field over again. Saddam is a legitimate monster, and he’s got to go - there’s no question about that.” > … > Schwarzkopf indicated that he’s troubled by Defense Secretary’s Donald Rumsfeld’s increasing propensity to “call the shots” in the war planning. … Schwarzkopf said a similar thing happened during the Vietnam War, when then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara started running the war out of the Pentagon. “It was really, really a very, very bad time for the military,” he said.\*\* ---
**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:** [January 31, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/111 "2003-01-31T20:28:43Z")
**bordelond** , did the picture say that he was on the 1/30/03 show? I ask, because the only hits I have come up with are from his appearances on older Today Show shows. Can you link to the cached page you are talking about? As to the townhall link you posted, the only problem is that it cites CNS news as its source (right there in the header, which unfortunately you didn’t include). Still waiting on a reply from the Today Show. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/112 "2003-01-31T21:17:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > \*\*As to the townhall link you posted, the only problem is that it cites CNS news as its source (right there in the header, which unfortunately you didn’t include). \*\* Um … I’m not clear on why that’s a problem. Plus, I’ve testified that I saw it myself. Why so dubious? I cannot link directly to the cached page. A Google search on these terms: **"Norman Schwarzkopf", "Today Show"** brings up the appropriate MSNBC page as it’s first hit. You must click on the word “Cached” to the right of the URL given. There is a limited time that this cached page will be available. On that cached page, you will see that the first story mentioned is a report about Bush’s SOTU address, which occured this past Monday. That establishes that Schwarzkopf’s pic is not from a 1/3/03 appearance. Plus, I remember the black shirt he was wearing in the pic. Would you like me to start a thread in Cafe Society to get further testimony? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/113 "2003-01-31T21:33:14Z")
Schwarzkopf was interviewed on MSNBC’s Hardball after the SOTUS: > [@](#): > > “I think that up until now we haven’t made enough of a case to the American people. I have thought all along that the administration had information that was based upon intelligence gathering that one of these days they would bring forward when the time was right, and that’s supposedly going to happen this week, and that’s going to make an awful lot of difference.” > -Schwarzkopf From that liberal rag [The Minneapolis Star Tribune](http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3624541.html) 01/31/03. This is a lot less than the ringing endorsement implied by Cyber News Service. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/114 "2003-01-31T21:35:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > \*\ ***bordelond** , did the picture say that he was on the 1/30/03 show? \*\* Misread this originally … he was on the Wednesday, 1/29/03 Today show. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/115 "2003-01-31T21:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squink \* > \*\*This is a lot less than the ringing endorsement implied by Cyber News Service. \*\* ??? That’s essentially what he said on the Today show Wednesday. CNS did not report his words dishonestly. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/116 "2003-02-01T00:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > Um … I’m not clear on why that’s a problem. Plus, I’ve testified that I saw it myself. Why so dubious? Well, that was a problem because CNS was the source for december’s post, and the only source I had seen. And no offense, but I would have no way of evaluating your claim. However, thanks to your directions, I was able to find the cached page and saw the photo you described. Thanks. I’m still curious to hear what he said, but Squink’s find was helpful to get a sense of where he stands. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/117 "2003-02-01T03:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > CNS did not report his words dishonestly. My claim was for slant, not outright dishonesty. On the other hand, if we want to get **real nitpicky** , the CNS headline of 1/29 did read “Schwarzkopf Reassured; More Information Coming”. It’s now the 31st, and **no more information has been forthcoming** :eek: Damn those dishonest, lying righties. They should at least publish a retraction 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/118 "2003-02-01T14:04:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian \* > **Well, that was a problem because CNS was the source for december’s post, and the only source I had seen.** Let’s cut to the chase – do you think CNS would fabricate a fictional Schwarzkopf appearance on the Today Show? I say that’s too egregious for them to get away with – the Net is not _that_ unreliable. CNS might put spin on someone’s words, but I don’t believe they’d fabricate a story from whole cloth. What say you? BTW, no personal offense taken … over the Net, you don’t know me from Adam. I can understand. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/119 "2003-02-01T19:01:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\*Let’s cut to the chase – do you think CNS would fabricate a fictional Schwarzkopf appearance on the Today Show? I say that’s too egregious for them to get away with – the Net is not _that_ unreliable. CNS might put spin on someone’s words, but I don’t believe they’d fabricate a story from whole cloth. What say you? > > BTW, no personal offense taken … over the Net, you don’t know me from Adam. I can understand. \*\* Well, I hadn’t heard of them before, so I asked december who they were. There are some who would make up such a story, so I wouldn’t make any claims about the overall reliability of the net. I simply wanted to confirm what they said. Looking back on the material their bias was evident, but I think my perception of it was enhanced by december’s link title, which indicated that Schwarzkopf was “convinced to support the war by Bush’s speech.” I don’t think that this conclusion was supported by what he said, given what I have seen of it anyway. Bottom line: I’m just a skeptical bastard, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306/120 "2003-02-01T22:11:23Z")
Elvis: Who’s being “dissuaded from facts?” Powell? Or you? Does it cause your partisan heart the least bit of pause that Rep. Jane Harman, the ranking **Democrat** on the House Intelligence Committee, says the intelligence information Powell is going to share Feb. 5 is compelling enough to justify what Bush and Blair want to do in Iraq? Cite _emphasis mine_: > [@](#): > > “I’m all for it,” said Rep. Jane Harman of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. _(Of Powell’s upcoming Feb. 5 presentation.)_ “It’s very important to have popular and multinational support for this effort.”\*\* Harmon said the administration’s body of evidence, which has been shared with the intelligence committees, is strong enough that it will accomplish that purpose.\*\* If so, Harmon said, she was still hopeful that Iraq would be forced into compliance and war could be averted. People who’ve seen the evidence know Saddam Hussein is playing games with the U.N. Period. I also find interesting the arguments of those who think action in Iraq is incongruous with the War on Terror. Let’s look at a timeline: **September-October 2001:** Exhibiting what I would characterize as incredible restraint in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Bush administration investigates, makes international consultations, and attempts to force the Taliban government to comply with turning over top Al Qaeda officials whom the country had been harboring and allowing to train there. The Taliban refuses, and the U.S. goes into Afghanistan, removes the Taliban from power, and destroys Al Qaeda’s support base and training apparatus. It could most decidedly be argued that U.S. restraint and patience made this effort **less** effective. It is apparent to me, however, that Osama Bin Laden was killed in the bombing that was part of this effort. Won’t ask anybody to prove a negative, but I will ask them to point to a period in time in recent history when OBL was this incommunicado for this length of time. **September 2001 to present** - Intelligence and law enforcement agencies lead a worldwide manhunt for Al Qaeda leaders and cells. Scores of arrests occur around the globe and occur to this day. Some Democrats, and those here, have indicated war in Iraq will be a “distraction” from the war on terror. Cite? The intelligence and law enforcement efforts, both in the U.S. and abroad, appear to have been continual and unwavering since the morning of September 11, 2001. Quite a bit of evidence can be pointed to that indicates this effort has thwarted further terrorist attacks, and I’ll be happy to dig up cites if you’d like. So, after taking care of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and parallel to the ongoing intelligence and law enforcement effort worldwide, where does the Bush administration turn its attention _in the context of this post-9/11 world?_ It **immediately** turns to the the world’s most powerful rogue regimes - ones with expressed dislike of the U.S., recent evidence of erratic, aggressive behavior, and evidence that they are building weapons of mass destruction and/or harboring and supporting terrorist activities. Bush outlines the worst among these threats in his “Axis of Evil” speech in January 2002, only weeks after the main fighting in Afghanistan has stopped. Of the three, who poses the greatest threat at that time? Clearly, it’s Iraq. Saddam Hussein has demonstrably not taken the actions he told the U.N. he would in order to end the 1991 Gulf War. The U.N. not only hasn’t done anything about it, it almost seems to have given up. (the weapons inspectors leaving more than four years ago) There is no nation on the earth that has more to fear from Islamic terrorists, with the exception of Israel, than the United States of America. No one will argue Saddam Hussein’s dislike for the U.S., which thwarted his power- and land-grab in Kuwait. Evidence exists that terrorist groups and anti-U.S.-and-Israel nations that previously had no interest in one another, or were even enemies, are allying. Cite North Korea’s bizarre recent aggressive actions notwithstanding, what other nation has invaded a neighbor in recent years? Has launched missiles, unprovoked, at a neighbor? Has used weapons of mass destruction? Has stockpiled weapons of mass destruction? Has thumbed its nose at the world community over these important security issues? There is one. Iraq. You’ll get no argument from me that North Korea’s recent actions are serious, and will cause us and the rest of the world great difficulty. It seems that Kim Jong-Il, however, wants to resolve this situation diplomatically, and that he is trying to force a non-aggression pact between North Korea and the USA, in return for his backing down on his nuclear aims. Cite There is no similar indication as to why Saddam Hussein would be stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The evidence of Saddam’s aims is quite apparent from his actions in 1990-91. Anyone who doesn’t see Iraq as the next leg in post-9/11 U.S. security interests, not separate from but parallel to the ongoing intelligence and law enforcement effort against Al Qaeda … I don’t want to accuse you of being deliberately obtuse. But I don’t know how you can look at the same evidence I’m looking at and reach that conclusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-smoking-gun-no-smoking-gun-in-iraq/151306.md?page=7)