# This is interesting. Saddam really did have WMD's. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365 "2006-01-31T16:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/181 "2006-02-02T00:38:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Let’s assume he’s right. Will the people who have yelled so loud for so long retract their statements? Let’s assume you’re a drippy Filipino crackhead ho. Is there anything you won’t do for a dollar? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/182 "2006-02-02T00:48:04Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Let’s assume you’re a drippy Filipino crackhead ho. Is there anything you won’t do for a dollar? I’m sorry, that is rude and crude but boy did it make me laugh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/183 "2006-02-02T01:40:00Z")
Hippy tactics? **mswas** , if you want peace, be peaceful. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/184 "2006-02-02T15:03:31Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > In some cases, absence of evidence is in fact evidence of absence. > > Say, no sign of **Clothahump.** Doesn’t he have a habit of starting a thread with a provocative, sometimes spectacularly stupid post, then disappearing? We need a word to describe that behavior. Something like “fishing”. I missed this the other day. **Baldwin** , congratulations on winning the Head-Up-Your-Ass award. Please note the time on my OP: 01-31-2006, 10:38 AM. Now please note the time on your post: 01-31-2006, 11:00 PM . Twenty-two minutes and you’re accusing me of skipping out? Here, have some crow. You want mustard with that? :wally ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/185 "2006-02-02T15:07:40Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I missed this the other day. > > **Baldwin** , congratulations on winning the Head-Up-Your-Ass award. Please note the time on my OP: 01-31-2006, 10:38 AM. Now please note the time on your post: 01-31-2006, 11:00 PM . > > Twenty-two minutes and you’re accusing me of skipping out? Here, have some crow. You want mustard with that? > > :wally **Clothahump** : Please reread your own post AM vs PM: that was 12 hours & 22 minutes. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/186 "2006-02-02T15:08:03Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Let’s assume you’re a drippy Filipino crackhead ho. Is there anything you won’t do for a dollar? Why don’t we simplify matters and take it as given that you are a brain-damaged asshole who hasn’t got any better sense than to post a reply like that to the question that I asked, instead of answering the question? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/187 "2006-02-02T15:09:11Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I missed this the other day. > > **Baldwin** , congratulations on winning the Head-Up-Your-Ass award. Please note the time on my OP: 01-31-2006, 10:38 AM. Now please note the time on your post: 01-31-2006, 11:00 PM . > > Twenty-two minutes and you’re accusing me of skipping out? Here, have some crow. You want mustard with that? > > :wally Spectacularly stupid, even by the high standards you’ve set yourself. See if you can spot what I mean all by yourself. Idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/188 "2006-02-02T15:12:30Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > **Clothahump** : Please reread your own post AM vs PM: that was 12 hours & 22 minutes. > > Jim :smack: :smack: Thank you. The coffee hasn’t kicked in yet. But still…12 hours and 22 minutes? Let’s get real. Some of us do have lives, ya know. Every once in a while, something comes up where I actually have to work instead of hanging on the Dope, and I’m quite sure that there are others in that situation. 'Nuff said on that. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/189 "2006-02-02T15:20:18Z")
The exchange here has, as I predicted, gotten quite heated. But just for grins, I decided to do a little research. And it appears that General Sada isn’t just blowing smoke. Others have concluded that there is a high probability that the WMDs were offloaded to Syria as well. [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1162149/posts](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1162149/posts) > **[Newsmax.com - Breaking news from around the globe](https://www.newsmax.com)** > > Newsmax.com reports today’s news headlines, live news stream, news videos from Americans and global readers > seeking the latest in current events, politics, U.S., world news, health, finance, and more. > **[News](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F01%2F25%2Fwirq25.xml&sSheet=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F01%2F25%2Fixnewstop.html)** > > Latest breaking news, including politics, crime and celebrity. Find stories, updates and expert opinion. > **[CIA can’t rule out WMD move to Syria](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/apr/27/20050427-121915-1667r/)** > > The CIA’s chief weapons inspector said he cannot rule out the possibility that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were secretly shipped to Syria before the March 2003 invasion, citing “sufficiently credible” evidence that WMDs may have been moved... ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/190 "2006-02-02T15:21:18Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Spectacularly stupid, even by the high standards you’ve set yourself. See if you can spot what I mean all by yourself. > > Idiot. Hey lay off **Clotha** , you know he can only post when the nurses are not looking. Sometime that means he has to wait untill change of shift, when the nurses are preoccupied… ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/191 "2006-02-02T15:24:26Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Hippy tactics? > > **mswas** , if you want peace, be peaceful. I don’t understand how this relates to **mswas** , if that’s what you are implying. Could you elaborate? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/192 "2006-02-02T15:26:35Z")
> [@Mellivora capensis](#): > > I don’t understand how this relates to **mswas** , if that’s what you are implying. Could you elaborate? Have you ever read anything posted by mswas? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/193 "2006-02-02T15:33:18Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Let’s assume he’s right. Will the people who have yelled so loud for so long retract their statements? Crow eating (with or without mustard or cream gravy) is optional. It’s an interesting conundrum, isn’t it? Of course they will; they’re wishy-washy, flippy-floppy _liberals_. Anyway, I can’t say as I’ve noticed their yelling; it was drowned out by the constant cries of 'Woo Hoo! Mission accomplished! We found the WMDs! We really found the fucking WMDs this time! In your face! we found… the… oh, it’s boxes of cornstarch… anyway, we’ll find them!" ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/194 "2006-02-02T15:33:32Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Hey lay off **Clotha** , you know he can only post when the nurses are not looking. Sometime that means he has to wait untill change of shift, when the nurses are preoccupied… I know, I’m sorry. And it can be real hard telling what number Mickey is pointing at sometimes. Or to make sense of his own cites. > [@](#): > > In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Dr Kay, who last week resigned as head of the Iraq Survey Group, said that he had uncovered evidence that **unspecified materials** had been moved to Syria shortly before last year’s war to overthrow Saddam. > > “ **We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons** ,” he said. "But we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war,\*\* including some components of Saddam’s WMD programme\*\*. We did not go to war over ‘components of a program’ whatever that may mean. We went to war over the imminent threat of nuclear powered anthrax drones of death able to strike anywhere in the solar system within 25 minutes. (To paraphrase slightly.) So - if ‘some components’ were transferred - where’s the rest? Where are the labs, the manufacturing facilities etc? I swear he’s practically getting dumber before our very eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/195 "2006-02-02T15:34:22Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Have you ever read anything posted by mswas? I have, however, my question relates specifically to how **mswas** is posting in this particular thread. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/196 "2006-02-02T15:36:45Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > :smack: :smack: > > Thank you. The coffee hasn’t kicked in yet. > > But still…12 hours and 22 minutes? Let’s get real. Some of us do have lives, ya know. Every once in a while, something comes up where I actually have to work instead of hanging on the Dope, and I’m quite sure that there are others in that situation. > > 'Nuff said on that. **Clothahump** : I try to be civil and act like I would act in the real world. But in your monthly Pit threads, you start Ops that seem poorly thought out and that have the appearance of just trying to “stir the shit”. (Excuse the expression). This OP was better than the previous 3 or 4 I have seen but you were deliberately confrontational with the Eating Crow Remarks. Under most circumstances, I doubt you would trust this author further than you can throw him. Try opening your Ops with the aim of discussion and I believe you will get a better response from many people on the board. Not all as some have given up on you and you probably do not care. However, this could have started in IMHO or GD and maybe you would have gotten more debate and less slamming. Oh well, just my opinion. Good Luck, Jim On Preview, (Hate when work interfears) I see you have added some links that would have been great yesterday morning. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/197 "2006-02-02T16:14:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Others have concluded that there is a high probability that the WMDs were offloaded to Syria as well. The cites you’ve provided being the Moonie Times, the Tory Telegraph, Newsmax (?), and, for Og’s sake, a Free Republic thread. :rolleyes: Explains a lot, actually. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/198 "2006-02-02T16:25:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The cites you’ve provided being the Moonie Times, the Tory Telegraph, Newsmax (?), and, for Og’s sake, a Free Republic thread. :rolleyes: > > Explains a lot, actually. And 2 of his cites contradict his position. Even the Moonie Times (as well as the previously quoted Torygraph). > [@](#): > > “Based on the evidence available at present, ISG judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place,” his report stated. “However, ISG was unable to rule out unofficial movement of limited WMD-related materials.” I’ve never shot fish in a barrel, but I bet it is harder than fending off Cloth’s razor-sharp insights into world affairs. Citing a Free Republic thread rant. :rolleyes: Leaving only the NewMax evidence from another General with a book to hawk. And he must sit there, brow heavily furrowed, lips moving slowly as he tries to figure out why not even the wackiest right posters take him seriously. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/199 "2006-02-02T16:49:24Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The exchange here has, as I predicted, gotten quite heated. Yes, how very surprising that the sheer, drooling, oatmeal-brained idiocy that you regularly display here might annoy some people. But seriously, so far as I can see, most of the ‘heat’ has actually consisted of people arguing with **mswas** over his equally odd assertions. > [@Clothahump](#): > > But just for grins, I decided to do a little research. And it appears that General Sada isn’t just blowing smoke. Others have concluded that there is a high probability that the WMDs were offloaded to Syria as well. You must be joking. Once again, actually read the articles rather than just the headlines, you cloth-eared git. None of your cites identifies specific weapons by name. Not one of the cites mentions an eyewitness who actually saw weapons of any type being transported to Syria. All four of the cites clearly state that the information in the articles is speculative, and David Kay, who is quote in two of of the linked articles, in both cases says that even if weapons of some kind may have been transported, “We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons.” I again invite you to ask us, does that justify the invasion of Iraq, even if by some bizarre alchemy each and every one of the vague mutterings you have presented as fact happen to be true? I’m ready to answer whenever you finally get round to that question. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/200 "2006-02-02T17:08:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > [Saddam's WMDs are in Syria: Michael Evans compiles multiple reports of weapons transfer](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1162149/posts) > > [http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/26/161043.shtml](http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/26/161043.shtml) > > [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/25/wirq25.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/25/ixnewstop.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/25/wirq25.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/25/ixnewstop.html) > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050427-121915-1667r.htm](http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050427-121915-1667r.htm) Don’t forget [DebkaFile](http://www.debka.com/). They have lots of stuff on Saddam moving his WMD to Syria. For example: [A senior Syrian journalist reports Iraq’s WMD located in three Syrian sites.](http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=764). There’s nothing _credible_ mind you, but that’s not really a problem is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365.md?page=11)