What will the ramifications be for the US if there are no WMD’s in Iraq?
We assume they have them, and we haven’t looked very hard for them yet, but what if?
Somehow, I’m pretty sure we’ll find them. Call it a hunch.
I’m worried. Saddam knows that it is in his best interests to hide or destroy any chemical weapons he may have because their discovery would lend legitimacy to the actions of the US coalition. This is the same reason why I find it hard to believe that he will use chemical weapons against allied forces.
Of course if that were true then what would be the point of having them in the first place?
If we don’t, the Bush should do the honorable thing and resign. However, I don’t think he will. If we don’t find them, then what little credibility we have as a nation will be shot, and the folks screaming about the “American Empire” will have to find a new villian to hate.
Oh we will find WMD
Someone will find a bottle of Clorox bleach and a bottle of Mr. Clean in a janitor’s closet and the Faux News Channel breathlessly report “PROOF POSITIVE OF SADDAM’S BANNED CHLORINE GAS PROGRAM!.” or
The Faux News Channel will find an old pair of Saddam’s army boots and breathlessly announce “ARMY FINDS CACHE OF TOXIC MATERIAL!”
Don’t forget about all the biological warfare sites, er, Iraqi hospitals. FAUX NEWS REPORTS SICK IRAQI SOLDIERS ARE SPREADING GERMS!!
Ditto what 5 time champ said.
I think we will appologise and promptly reinstate Saddam. Not.
“promptly reinstate Saddam”…??!
I didnt know the US has the ability to ressurect someone…
OH OH I get it … He’s in state now… re-instate… haha funny.
I think that 5 time champ is on to something.
I suspect that, if necessary, the US will be able to find some sort of facility or factory which is at least ambiguous enough that the US can proclaim it to be a covert bio/nuclear/chem lab. There is no way Bush can admit that he was wrong at this point.
Even if it has “Baby Milk Factory” signs all over it?
They’ll call it “camouflage.” 
Getting Rid of Saddam is success enough. We don’t need to find WMD, but it really doesn’t matter what we find I guess, because people who don’t want to believe our intelligence agencies or our military, never will.
Maybe if Al Jazeera showed WMD found in Iraq, you guys would believe them. :rolleyes:
I hope i dont break any forum rules about cross-posting but I posted this as a hijack on another thread, but its more appropriate to post it here.
This is a Hijack because I would like to dwell on this political nightmare scenario for the moment. If there are no clear cut evidence of WMD after we kill Saddam and his regime, the administration will fall heavily on the “Iraqi liberation” spin. The top levels of the CIA are going to get decapitated, Bush could easily be replaced by Colin Powell in the republican nominations for the election 2004, France will never let us live this down (and they will be even more insufferable), Terrorism will increase significantly, the US will lose most of the Arab nations goodwill, our economy will still grow but any stake in the EU will be tenuous, we will hear more from Sharpton and Jessie about all of this and Daschle will have a field day, the UN will probably have a lot to say about the Bush administrations actions and Saddam will be a martyr to the Muslim extremists the likes of which even Osama Bin Ladin cannot imagine.
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I meant that this would be a Bush administration political nightmare. How is this a nightmare for you?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – the United States could find a million tons of anthrax in Iraq, and it still wouldn’t change the fact that this entire war was launched without the approval of the United Nations Security Council, on the false pretense that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States.
Now, if you show me war plans in Saddam Hussein’s bunker that he’s been cooking up plans for an offensive attack against the U.S., then we’ll talk.
It’s worse than a nightmare because it’s real. Yes, it’s a political nightmare for the Bush administration, but so what? They’re grownups who can handle it, aren’t they? If not, why do they deserve consideration?
No, the problem is the long-term damage to the US and the world, regardless of the names on the door.
We could just plant evidence to save face. Noone will be the wiser, especially if the soldiers involved in the planting of evidence suffer fatal accidents.
I think 5 time champ is on the right track, we WILL find something, even if its not actual weapons. We didnt need any hardcore proof to invade Iraq so why would we need to have any hardcore proof to justify it when its over? We are bound to find something trivial or some type of scientific testing will turn up some kind of chemical residue… even if this evidence has to be “manufactured”. There is too much on the line to NOT find something. So we will find something but unless its actual weapons, I wont be satisfied, and I hope they rest of the world wont ethier…
My earlier joking aside, I think our troops will find something, or at least find evidnce of the capacity to build WMD. The well is already been poisoned enough [pardon the phrase] by the “chemicals weapons” factory found the other day. Bush won’t need a smoking gun [another phrase to pardon], any old gun will do.
OTOH, maybe finding Mendeleev’s Periodic Chart of Elements translated into Arabic at good old Baghdad U. is plenty of evidence for ‘SADDAM’S NUKULAR PROGRAM’.
We will deal with the long term damage as is happens. We will also take advantage of the short and long term gains that are facilitated by the removal of Saddam and the liberation of the Iraqi people. Think of even a moderately grateful nation of Iraq that is modernized to its full economic and political potential, just like it was 30 years ago before Saddam. If we treat Iraq with dignity and respect and with equal terms that we treat the Israelis then peace in that region would be attainable. That alone is worth the price of war. Without this war, theres not even a hope of that happening, for Iraq to be free or for Peace in that region.