# OMG...The WMD were looted! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 22, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506 "2003-06-22T00:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/41 "2003-06-23T01:30:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\*I have already stated elsewhere that I don’t particularily care about WMD in Iraq. I am far more concerned with Pakistani or North Korean WMD than with whatever Iraq could have scraped together. > \*\* Since I don’t know where this “elsewhere” is, I hope you can clarify something for me: Are you saying that since we haven’t found any WMDs in Iraq, that we should just shrug and move on? I’d think you’d be incredibly concerned, because if you believe that tons of them were there, as the government claimed, and they’re not there now, as is increasingly likely as time goes on without a trace of them, then they’re in the hands of terrorists right now, waiting for a chance to use them against U.S. interests. I would think that you’d care a LOT. ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/42 "2003-06-23T01:43:11Z")
I like the updates as well. Cant be too difficult to pass over them if uninterested I would think. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/43 "2003-06-23T01:53:07Z")
**Airman Doors** I suppose I can sympathize. What it sounds like to me is that by and large, you find the debate topics interesting but find **Reeder** ’s OPs irritating. Correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t mean to assume. At some level, all of these topics are worthy of GD and/or Pit threads. Bush misleads about WMD, the Niger documents were middle-school forgeries, the touted drones were actually one R/C plane with the wings duct-taped on, Bush calls critics “revisionist historians” yadayadayada. Each of them can inspire large, multipage debates, and they should. But it seems that a new one happens _every single freakin’ day_ with this administration. Every time Bush opens his mouth, he provides ample reason for debate and flaming. Perhaps this is why the OPs and the threads are so disappointing: it seems like there is a tidal wave of things to complain about. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/44 "2003-06-23T03:21:23Z")
I enjoy the updates, with all the different excuses coming from the White House i miss a few until i see them here ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/45 "2003-06-23T03:38:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > I have already stated elsewhere that I don’t particularily care about WMD in Iraq. I am far more concerned with Pakistani or North Korean WMD than with whatever Iraq could have scraped together. > > I am still waiting for the cite where GW declares that the one and only reason we are attacking Iraq is their WMD. As far as I know, he _always_ threw in a little something about freeing the Iraqis or whatnot, but some people only hear what they want to hear. (Or what it suits them to hear, as seems to be the case here.) Speaking of “revisionist history”. Sure, the Bush Administration had their “reason of the week” regarding Iraq. But the fact is that the underlying reason and the one that was used as a “legal” justification in the international law sense was the WMD issue. In the end, Bush consistently went back on the argument that the U.S. had the legal right to defend itself against the “threat” posed to it by the Iraqi regime and/or that it had the right to enforce U.N. resolutions regarding the disarmament of Iraq (whether or not the U.N. thought it had that right). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/46 "2003-06-23T03:56:24Z")
**Brutus** , YOU may not care that the President lied, and put American and British lives in harm’s way on the basis of that lie, but I sure as hell do. Did he HONESTLY not know this? I mean, what did the Bush administration expect they would do, if they didn’t find WMD? How can they expect to just weasel out of it? I don’t appreciate being lied to on something so serious-especially when people are put in jeopardy. If he wanted to oust Saddam Hussein on the basis of human rights, then he should have said so. He didn’t-he said the main reason was Weapons of Mass DestructionTM. And he was wrong. He’s made us the joke of the international community, seriously undermining our integrity. It’s not about hating America, or Bush, or being unpatriotic. It’s because I love my country that I hate it when shit like this happens. ---
**Author:** ![Paco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Paco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paco)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/47 "2003-06-23T05:08:31Z")
I like these updates. Leave if you don’t. Keep postin’ em baby! ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/48 "2003-06-23T13:53:26Z")
I wish **Airman Doors** and **Brutus** were right that no more threads on what Bush said were needed: I’d love to ignore whatever the guy has to say in his speeches. But unfortunately it’s the same guy that invades other countries when he’s done talking, so ignoring him, because there are too many threads about him already, seems like a bad idea, really 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/49 "2003-06-23T15:10:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > **Oooh, Bush farted in church** Now _there’s_ your WMD. ---
**Author:** ![joemama24\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@joemama24\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemama24_98)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/50 "2003-06-23T16:03:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by edwino \* > \*\*Tuweitha’s yellowcake uranium was looted after the US troops bypassed it. The invasion was as much about philosophy as it was about regime change and WMDs. The philosophy trumped the WMDs, and now we have a better chance of finding out about Iraqi WMDs when they turn up in a dirty bomb or subway gassing in the US. > > If there were no WMDs, he misled us into a war. That is serious. If the WMDs were looted, then he bungled our national security. That should petrify us. I don’t know what Bush will gain playing the “WMDs were looted” card. \*\* Exactly - this is why many of us feared jumping the gun on this issue. Saddam could either be contained (and was cooperating with unrestricted access to the UN inspectors), or we could invade, possibly dispersing the WMD to who know’s where. I believe the CIA even issued a report claiming that this was a good possibility. Which is more deadly to the world? A limited, if any, supply of WMD in the hands of a contained dictator who has bad blood with the al-Queda network and is unlikely to share them (again, the CIA’s own assessment), or the WMD floating around the Middle East in the aftermath of a poorly planned invasion? A few weeks ago, Rumsfeld was asked about the possibly of the latter. He replied that it would be an “unfortunate” situation. Screw him - the Bush administration caused it by ignoring their own damn intelligence agencies Anyone who think that the Bush administration has made the world a safer place is a moron. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/51 "2003-06-23T16:08:00Z")
Don’t mind **Airman Doors**. He is blowing off a little steam in response to the way that the Bush administration has betrayed him and some of his military colleagues and made them look like chumps. Anyone remember [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=163391)? > [@](#): > > _Bluesman_ > \*\*I have a lot of insight into this, and I DO have the facts. I work this problem every day, and have for over three years. I know what I’m talking about, and when this is all over, the people that are bursting with smug pride over their role in the way-cool, hip, chic and popular anti-war movement will have dam’ little to say for themselves. > > Because it will have been proven to everybody with eyes to see, mind to comprehend and conscience to admit - they were wrong.\*\* and > [@](#): > > _Airman Doors, USAF_ > \*\*Did you happen to notice where he [Bluesman] lives, anyone? Fort Meade, Maryland, home of the NSA. If anyone knows what’s going on they work there, and I for one believe him when he says that. > > There’s also a little matter of security clearance do address. If he said anything, he’d go to jail for a very long time. > > What I do wish is that one of our officials would lay it all out so it’ll settle the matter, instead of making people like Bluesman look like chumps. > > BTW, we really do got the goods. I wish I could prove that to you. > \*\* and > [@](#): > > _Airman Doors, USAF_ > \*\*I resent the fact that you people can protest the war with no knowledge, but when we support it with knowledge but are legally bound to keep it a secret, you call us liars or say “Bullshit” and then continue on with your anti-war celebrations, snug in the knowledge that you’re making the world a better place by your actions. > > I can only hope that in a few months you’ll understand why I’m saying this. I’ve opened myself up, as has Bluesman, for all of your resentment about the war. Why would we do that if we didn’t know something? But go ahead and continue. I’m hoping the situation becomes clear to you guys eventually.\*\* and > [@](#): > > _Bluesman_ > \*\*I do happen to know, but as Doors said, I can’t cite classified info to win a debate with a leftie dupe. Bottom line: I know that the best thing that can happen in this world is an Iraq with no Husseins in a position of power. And there is only one way left to get there: armed force. We’ve tried diplomacy, we’ve tried sanctions, and we’ve tried limited military action. All have been exhausted, and my point was this: those of you smug sumbitches that THINK you know what’s best DO NOT. And I have the picture in my mind of Neville Chamberlain standing on the tarmac waving his pathetic piece of paper over his head, proclaiming, “Peace in our time”…as his country was less than a year away from a deadly war of national survival. > > Keep your happy snaps of you an’ the gang hangin’ at the Peace Rally in your scrap books, kids. You’ll get to look back at 'em in a few years in sheepish amazement, much as the appeasers of the 'Thirties did, when they were down to their last catch-phrase/soundbite: “Why die for Danzig?”. But at least your country will be safer, and your kids won’t be at quite such mortal peril, and they’ll be able to call their leaders “evil”, as he attempts to do the best he can to protect all of you from a truly evil madman. > > And for that, you’re welcome very much, I’m sure.\*\* When you’ve spent so much energy standing up for the integrity of US intelligence, it must be a little depressing to find that what you were being told might have been half-truths or lies all along. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/52 "2003-06-23T16:16:55Z")
Zap, mhendo! ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/53 "2003-06-23T16:50:54Z")
To be honest, if I were **Airman Doors,** by now I’d be _totally steamed_ that the Commander-in-Chief endangered my life over a lie. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/54 "2003-06-23T17:08:28Z")
At least Airman Doors is around. Funny, you don’t see much of Bluesman anymore. Or maybe he’s just avoiding the relevant threads. I sure as hell would. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/55 "2003-06-23T17:56:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*Don’t mind **Airman Doors**. He is blowing off a little steam in response to the way that the Bush administration has betrayed him and some of his military colleagues and made them look like chumps. > > Anyone remember [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=163391)? and and and When you’ve spent so much energy standing up for the integrity of US intelligence, it must be a little depressing to find that what you were being told might have been half-truths or lies all along. \*\* Bingo. Earlier in this thread I stated inequivocally that I hated being lied to. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by rjung_ > **To be honest, if I were Airman Doors, by now I’d be totally steamed that the Commander-in-Chief endangered my life over a lie.** By George, I think you’re on to something. Incidentally, I am legally not allowed to say what I REALLY think, since that would violate the UCMJ. But even so, these constant updates are kinda silly. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/56 "2003-06-23T19:01:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > \*\*… But even so, these constant updates are kinda silly. \*\* While I am sorry to continue this hijack, I do feel the need to jump in here. First, I do 100% get why you feel this way, but must respectfully disagree. While it is true that we could just have on 15-page long “Bush lies” sticky thread, the fact is that very few people would take the time to read it. Simply put, this is a big deal and I think that every nuance of it deserves to be explored. I **want** this issue up in everyone’s face. I **want** it to be impossible to enter a single forum here without seeing at least one thread that is asking just where the actual stockpiles of WMD that we were told were a threat to the USA and her allies is. And I know that this is probably pissing off some of the more moderate folks that supported this war, and I know that a lot of the folks that are starting these threads are some of my (as a Liberal leaning guy) more shrill compatriots. For that I am sorry. To put this in some perspective, I guess that you may want to look at this as the shoe being on the other foot. We lived through the merciless BS surrounding Clinton’s blowjob etc. as well as some pretty triumphant and repugnant pro-war threads (to say nothing of the “Shut up you sore looser threads” when Bush 2.0 assumed the Presidency). So, to some degree, it is just your turn (meaning the generalized you, as in my esteemed Dopers who are of the more Conservative persuasion). All of that said, I will say this: Now would be a good time for those of us that were against this war all along and who may be starting to feel a little smug to step back and have a little perspective. Assuming that we are right (and I am willing to wait a bit more before I state that as a fact) and that there never were WMD, I would ask that we remember that the folks with whom we debate are our fellow citizens and (much more importantly) fellow Dopers. We are all divided enough, so please show some tack and decorum. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/57 "2003-06-23T19:05:33Z")
What just about everone is missing is far more important than the lies. The lies are there to justify a war, bad enough, but actually it is so much worse than that. Lies are just an attempt to conceal a truth, and the truth is that Bush has embarked on a certain type of foreign policy which the US has actively opposed and denounced when practiced by other nations. It my not suit the old labels of imperialism, or colonialism and perhaps we need a new name, this policy is not far differant though. The US has taken control of Iraqi oil resources ‘for the people of Iraq’, I’m sure that the disgraceful British invasion of the Orange Free State in South Africa was to ‘secure mineral wealth for the people of Africa’ but in the end it was just naked greed. The US now has a moreorless overt policy of ignoring international policymaking bodies, and going against the recommendations of the UN in order to pursue its own interests, and in the way the US has carved up the rebuilding contracts cake this is an exclusive policy. Yes it is good to see the end of the Iraqi regime, but I personally think the US voter, and perhaps the rest of the world should have been far better informed of US foreign policy objectives, rather than have them covered up by systematic lying. Bush at the moment shoud be seen as a shadow over any third world nation that has anything that the US desires. The US is now trying to extend its power by using threats, by hinting that other errant nations need to be dealt with, the US is attempting not to be above international law, but in fact to **become** international law. This could be a long long road, lots will die, lots have already died, is this the trip the US voters so unanimously endorsed in those infamous elections. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/58 "2003-06-23T19:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jshore \* > \*\*Speaking of “revisionist history”. Sure, the Bush Administration had their “reason of the week” regarding Iraq. But the fact is that the underlying reason and the one that was used as a “legal” justification in the international law sense was the WMD issue. In the end, Bush consistently went back on the argument that the U.S. had the legal right to defend itself against the “threat” posed to it by the Iraqi regime and/or that it had the right to enforce U.N. resolutions regarding the disarmament of Iraq (whether or not the U.N. thought it had that right). \*\* Nations as powerful as America make international law; following it is a distant second. Some day, America will no longer be the world’s preeminent power. That day, we will dutifully follow international law. Until then, we will dutifully do whatever is in the best interests of America. If Bush had to say ‘WMD WMD WMD WMD WMD WMD WMD’ to get what he felt was in the best interests of America, huzzah! for him. Hey, for such a stupid guy, he sure does seem to get what he wants. The Presidency, tax cuts (twice!), Iraq… But to go into broken-record mode: I don’t care about WMD from Iraq. There were plenty of other great reasons to attack Iraq; If GW said that he wanted to take Iraq so that he may use Saddam’s Transmogrifier, I would say ,“GW is a goofy SOB, but at least the end-result will be good.” Ends justifying means, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/59 "2003-06-23T20:31:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\* There were plenty of other great reasons to attack Iraq;… \*\* Here’s the next snippet on the broken record; WoMD were the reason we were given as to why the war couldn’t wait- why we couldn’t wait, as many other members of the UNSC wished, for UN inspectors to finish their job. While other reasons including the egregious horrors of the Hussein regime were mentioned, the reason that Iraq posed a serious threat to the US was the threat of the distribution of WoMD to terrorists. W/o this part the whole idea of a threat to the US falls apart. W/o a threat to the US the war on Iraq becomes an elective war to change a regime that we don’t like, ( for reason of its horrendous atrocities). If you look at the AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ RESOLUTION OF 2002 PUBLIC LAW 107–243—OCT. 16, 2002 it clearly states that: > [@](#): > > SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. > (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President is authorized to use the > Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary > and appropriate in order to— > (1)\*\* defend the national security of the United States against > the continuing threat posed by Iraq\*\*; and > (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council > resolutions regarding Iraq. These two things are what Bush was _authorized_ to use force for. The reason that we couldn’t wait for the UN to enforce its own resolutions (2) was because of (1) the threat to the US. How did Iraq pose a threat to the US? > [@](#): > > Whereas in Public Law 105–235 (August 14, 1998), Congress concluded that **Iraq’s continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened vital United States interests** and international peace and security, declared Iraq to be in ‘‘material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations’’ and urged the President ‘‘to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations’’; > > Whereas **Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States** and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations **by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability** , and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations; > > Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq > > Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, > underscored the **gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition > of weapons of mass destruction** by international terrorist > organizations; > > Whereas Iraq’s demonstrated capability and willingness to use > weapons of mass destruction, **the risk that the current Iraqi > regime will either employ those weapons to launch a surprise > attack against the United States or its Armed Forces or provide > them to international terrorists who would do so**, and the extreme magnitude of harm that would result to the United States and its citizens from such an attack, combine to \*\*justify action by the United States to defend itself; > > Whereas the United States is determined to prosecute the war > on terrorism and Iraq’s ongoing support for international terrorist > groups **combined with its development of weapons of mass > destruction** in direct violation of its obligations under the 1991 > cease-fire and other United Nations Security Council resolutions > make clear that it is in the national security interests of the > United States and in furtherance of the war on terrorism that > all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions be > enforced, including through the use of force if necessary; Despite there being other objections to Iraq’s behaviors and other reasons for going to war with Iraq, and despite you personal willingness to send members of our armed forces into harms way,(and to die), for fictitious and ridiculous reasons,:rolleyes: (to use Hussein’s tranmogrifier), this war was sold on the threat that Hussein’s WoMd posed to the US. Congress authorized the president to use the nation’s military to achieve two goals. What ever various post hoc rationalizations for the invasion that are made are NOT what we went to war for. In short the war actually and indeed _was_ sold on Hussein’s WoMD. I can’t believe you said it was okay with you if American soldiers get killed so Bush can indulge a delusional, psychotic fantasy of using Hussein’s transmogrifier. Do you hate America and our soldiers _that_ much? (Besides, everyone knows it’s **Calvin’s** transmogrifier.) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506/60 "2003-06-23T21:00:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Nations as powerful as America make international law; following it is a distant second. Some day, America will no longer be the world’s preeminent power. That day, we will dutifully follow international law. Until then, we will dutifully do whatever is in the best interests of America Finally we have a winner. America thinks it is above the law, the law is what America says it is, see anything wrong with that ? Not wishing to invoke Godwins principle, all I will say is that despots, tryrants and dictators the ages through have such justification. The US sell itself as something differant, which it is now doing convincingly well to disprove. My country right or wrong. God help us all, the idiots also have more WMD Hussain could ever dream about. England had to have centuries of unrest and turmoil, where the principles enshrined in Magna Carta (which started the idea off that the law was above even kings) and peaked at the English civil war, before it finally dawned on rulers that the law had to be independant and pre-eminent and a force to which the most mighty were subject. They only had cannon and pikes to fight with then, the US has WMD. Your policymakers are beyond stupid, they are proper dangerous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-the-wmd-were-looted/183506.md?page=4)