# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/21 "2006-01-31T17:57:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > One, if this turns out to be true, will it add any justification to the war? There has been a desparate attempt to recast the justification for war as a binary “Saddam had/didn’t have WMDs”, which is complete bullshit. The administration rushed the country to war on the premise that Saddam had WMDs _to the point that he was an imminent threat to the U.S._, with the implication that they had intelligence backing up such a fantastic assertion. Imagery of nuclear and biological attacks on the U.S. were used by the administration to justify immediate invasion. Trace amounts of 20-year old chemical weapons do not qualify. A planeload of VX doesn’t qualify. Neither of those things constituted an imminent threat to the security of this country that required an immediate invasion. Sorry, you can’t get out of this one on a technicality. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/22 "2006-01-31T17:59:59Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Sorry, you can’t get out of this one on a technicality. In case it wasn’t obvious, that “you” was not directed at **tdn** but to anyone who would make the foolish argument that some old chemical weapons would satisfy the stated pretense for invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/23 "2006-01-31T18:01:17Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > He saved 40 downed coalition pilots eh? We didn’t have 40 pilots shot down in both wars combined I’ll lay any odds. Apart from not understanding how that made him a hero. Actually, something like 37 US troops were captured in 1991, and nearly all were tortured by Iraqi forces. Seventeen of them filed suit against the Government of Iraq in early 2003, and were awarded nearly a billion dollars in damages. (Interestingly, the Bush Administration then intervened in the case to get the whole matter thrown out.) So, it appears that this fine general “saved” our troops by handing them over to be tortured. How can you NOT believe this general? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/24 "2006-01-31T18:05:29Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > In case it wasn’t obvious, that “you” was not directed at **tdn** Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/25 "2006-01-31T18:14:43Z")
Crow with mustard taste like sucktard. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/26 "2006-01-31T18:20:37Z")
Hey, I’ll keep an open mind, maybe this is true. But is sure looks like yet another one of those WMD false alarms that we saw a lot of at the start of the war. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/27 "2006-01-31T18:22:28Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Well, there you have it. Skull and crossbones = WMD. Did the pilot say if any of the barrels had “X X X” symbols on them, indicating moonshine? No, but from what I understand, the men who transported them were paid with brown bags with dollar signs on them. ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/28 "2006-01-31T18:25:27Z")
Yeah, there were barrels with skull and crossbones on them! There was also a crate labelled “Top Seecret - Nookleur Bomeb!” There was a guy in a Grim Reaper outfit coordinating the loading, and the planes had “WMD Airlines” painted on the side. How silly of us to have missed this damning evidence. I blame the liberals. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [January 31, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/29 "2006-01-31T18:28:44Z")
This is the just about the dumbest premise for a thread since, well, since **Clothahump’s** last Pit thread. Dude, does the term ‘hearsay’ mean anything at all to you? Before I even begin to consider this unbelievably stupid story, I want to hear a) some evidence other than the General’s that these flights actually took place; b) corroboration from one or more named parties that some sort of toxic chemicals actually were transported; c) that usable weapons were transported (for example, drums of chemicals do not strike me as much of a weapons system); d) and most importantly, that Saddam was intending to use these non-existent weapons against the US. 'Cause unless that last was the case, it doesn’t even begin to justify the invasion. **Clothy** , as usual, you’ve got nothin’. Kindly piss off. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/30 "2006-01-31T18:33:32Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Did the pilot say if any of the barrels had “X X X” symbols on them, indicating moonshine? What would happen if we put an X on [del]CNN[/del] WMD? ---
**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:** [January 31, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/31 "2006-01-31T18:34:04Z")
Why do you do this to yourself, **Clothahump**? You know as well as I do that the only way that anybody will believe that there were WMDs at this point (including me, who thought that there were WMDs before the war) is if they are definitively found in another country with photographic proof from an indepedent organization, and maybe not even then. It’s been too long. That dog won’t hunt anymore. Even the President doesn’t refer to them anymore, because he knows better. This guy is pulling a Jane Fonda: he’s saying something because he has a book to sell. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/32 "2006-01-31T18:35:08Z")
> [@Leviosaurus](#): > > Yeah, there were barrels with skull and crossbones on them! There was also a crate labelled “Top Seecret - Nookleur Bomeb!” There was a guy in a Grim Reaper outfit coordinating the loading, and the planes had “WMD Airlines” painted on the side. And all of it bearing the “Acme” logo. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/33 "2006-01-31T18:39:08Z")
You guys are asking **Clothahump** questions? Like, you expect him to answer? That’s _cute_. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/34 "2006-01-31T18:39:14Z")
> [@](#): > > “yellow barrels with skull and crossbones on each barrel.” Heh, an equally logical guess would be lots and lots of skulls and lots and lots of bones. Maybe Saddam was just cleanin’ out his closets. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/35 "2006-01-31T18:46:01Z")
Man, you guys should lighten up. Just the other day, I was talking to my cousin Phil, whose band played at the wedding of guy. This guy’s barber is second cousin to a guy that’s married to a girl whose au pair has a brother that had a university professor that personally saw Saddam inspecting WMD’s. So, I mean, that’s pretty much all the proof I need. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/36 "2006-01-31T18:55:26Z")
Heh, I wish people would get over the WMD argument. Of course Saddam had WMDs, Papa Bush sold them to him during the Reagan administration, we all knew that. It’s amazing how stupid people became after 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/37 "2006-01-31T19:00:41Z")
I always wonder how folks like **Clothahump** have any money at all. They’re so guillible, you’d think they’d be constantly mailing their savings accounts to some guy in Nigeria, or investing in carborators that run on water, or voting Republican. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/38 "2006-01-31T19:07:08Z")
You all want to believe there were no WMDs just because some inspectors never found them. My guess is that the administration did some accounting. They were like, ok Daddy sold them X weapons, Saddam used Y against Iran and the Kurds. If Y was less than X, that led them to conclude that Saddam still had WMDs. A “factory” can be a warehouse filled with beakers and test tubes. You know like how they make Cocaine, Heroin and Crystal Meth? Easily moved, easily destroyed. You all are so willing to believe one thing despite a lack of evidence, but you won’t believe the other thing even though there is still a lack of evidence. Basically none of you know jack shit, and you just want to feel smart because it suits your bias. Just like in the thread about how Republicans are Racist was able to make almost everyone unilaterally dismiss an unpublished study about partisan bias because of an irresponsible journalist’s reporting on that study. Wanna-be pseudo-intellectuals are among the most gullible people on the planet. Once you guys stake a claim to an opinion you’ll use any method you can possibly think of to defend it, thinking you are advancing some crusade against ignorance, when really all you are doing is propagating ignorance because the fact of the matter is “YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT”. This happens time and time again that some high ranknig official military official will come out and say something that doesn’t fit the status quo opinion, and people will try to dismiss what he says because it doesn’t suit the bias of that status quo. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/39 "2006-01-31T19:18:15Z")
Wow, **mswas**. I’ve never thought about it like that before. And I hope I never do again. But thanks for the trip down the rabbit hole. It was kinda scary. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365/40 "2006-01-31T19:22:27Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > You all want to believe there were no WMDs just because some inspectors never found them. Um, yeah, that kinda follows. > [@](#): > > They were like, ok Daddy sold them X weapons, Saddam used Y against Iran and the Kurds. If Y was less than X, that led them to conclude that Saddam still had WMDs. you’re overlooking the stuff the UN teams found and destroyed during the 90’s, which, as the vindicated Scott Ritter always claimed, was essentially the entire balance. > [@](#): > > A “factory” can be a warehouse filled with beakers and test tubes. You know like how they make Cocaine, Heroin and Crystal Meth? Easily moved, easily destroyed. That shit hasn’t been found either. Even if it had, would that constituted a “grave and gathering threat” to our precious bodily fluids? > [@](#): > > you won’t believe the other thing even though there is still a lack of evidence. Um, yeah, that’s kinda what evidence is _for_. > [@](#): > > Basically none of you know jack shit We do know that none of that stuff has ever been found despite pretty intensive (albeit belated) searching. Our views are consistent with that one central fact. Yours is not. Our views are based in reality. Yours is based in fantasy. See the difference? > [@](#): > > Once you guys stake a claim to an opinion you’ll use any method you can possibly think of to defend it Damn that lack of evidence! Damn it all to hell! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-interesting-saddam-really-did-have-wmds/342365.md?page=3)