# WMD shipped out of Iraq before and during the WAR!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 13, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159 "2004-06-13T19:34:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/21 "2004-06-14T11:13:17Z")
They’re probably confusing her with Beatrix Potter. “Bunnies! It must be _bunnies!!_” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/22 "2004-06-14T11:36:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What’s really fun is to compare the World Tribune rightwing crapaganda with [the same story in the New York Times.](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/international/middleeast/10nati.html) Ding ding ding! We have a winner! And actually, the scrap metal looting is in no way confined to Saddam’s former weapons programs. I recall another recent news story (though I can’t remember where I read it–CNN, maybe?) that poked around one of the scrapyards in Jordan and found all kinds of apparently functional machinery from Iraqi oil facilities, including a lot of very valuable stuff. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/23 "2004-06-14T12:14:12Z")
Wait until they spread the stories that Saddam actually has an invisibility ray that he used to make the WMD invisible. And thus, beware, invisible Iraqi terrorists could be hiding under YOUR bed, too! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/24 "2004-06-14T12:19:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > For some reason, conspiracy theorists periodically include Queen Beatrix as one of their alleged secret manipulators of current events. Don’t ask me why. You fool! No one expects the Dutch Inquisition! ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/25 "2004-06-14T12:34:24Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > They’re probably confusing her with Beatrix Potter. > > “Bunnies! It must be _bunnies!!_” > > 😃 No, not bunnies. It’s Mr. Toad. “No teeth, no teeth.” ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/26 "2004-06-14T15:13:32Z")
> [@chula](#): > > The article claims that Saddam Hussein shipped weapons _after_ the war against Iraq. Apparently their research relies on the work of fortune tellers. Actually, they said “weapons of mass destruction _components_” When a “program activity” means that some scientists suspected other scientists of thinking about making plans, I’d hesitate to guess what exactly a ‘component’ is. Gotta love this part: “The briefing contained satellite photographs that demonstrated the speed with which Saddam dismantled his missile and WMD sites before and during the war. Council members were shown photographs of a ballistic missile site outside Baghdad in **May 2003** , and then saw a satellite image of the same location in **February 2004** , in which facilities had disappeared.” Somehow, since the American Occupation began these sites that should’ve been heavily guarded have been looted. This kind of points out the extreme folly of the GWB Admin’s pre-war planning for the post-war period. I’ve made this same point myself many times. The article is right on. It doesn’t represent good news for the Bush Admin though. It has recorded another example of their mendacity or incompetence. The invasion of Iraq has made it even more likely that terrorists will get their hands on the WMD ‘components’ that Hussein had. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/27 "2004-06-14T15:15:58Z")
> [@SimonX](#): > > This kind of points out the extreme folly of the GWB Admin’s pre-war planning for the post-war period. > > I’ve made this same point myself many times. > > The article is right on. It doesn’t represent good news for the Bush Admin though. It has recorded another example of their mendacity or incompetence. > > The invasion of Iraq has made it even more likely that terrorists will get their hands on the WMD ‘components’ that Hussein had. This is prob’ly why the GWB Admin hasn’t trumpeted this article. hopefully, **MrTuffPaws** will be back to explain the intended impact of this story. ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/28 "2004-06-14T15:48:43Z")
Quoting your self SimonX? Strange Anyway, my intended impact of this story was: > [@](#): > > What pisses me off more, that media outlets write sloppy articles with lots of leeway for reader’s assumptions, almost making the piece an OP, or that people take shoddy reports and wave them around as fact? I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/29 "2004-06-14T16:18:54Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Wait until they spread the stories that Saddam actually has an invisibility ray that he used to make the WMD invisible. And thus, beware, invisible Iraqi terrorists could be hiding under YOUR bed, too! They did exactly that, and it worked perfectly. The good news was that the UN inspectors couldn’t find them. The bad news was neither could they. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/30 "2004-06-14T19:15:41Z")
Rush said he wasn’t sure why no one was making a big deal about this World Tribune Report. As I had a minute… Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:11:12 -0700 (PDT) From: “SimonX” Subject: Why No One’s Making A Big Deal About the World Tribune Report To: “Rush Limbaugh” \<[rush@eibnet.com](mailto:rush@eibnet.com)\> Dear Mr. Limbaugh, Because the report makes the Bush Admin look bad. Publicizing the report would highlight the fact these weapons of mass destruction components were taken out of Iraq on the US’s watch. Highlighting this would highlight some shortcomings of the Bush Admin’s foreign policy venture in Iraq. The report reveals the shoddy pre-war planning for the post-war period in Iraq. Some of the evidence for the shipments of the “weapons of mass destruction components” comes from satellite images taken starting in May 2003 when the US assumed responsibility of these weapons of mass destruction components. That these weapons of mass destruction components could be taken out of country shows that there was insufficient security for these weapons of mass destruction components. It was the US’s responsibility to provide this security for these weapons of mass destruction components. Poor pre-war planning prevented the military from being able to provide adequate security for the weapons of mass destruction components we went over there to secure. And that’s why. Sincerely, Simon W. Moon ksc ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/31 "2004-06-15T14:44:02Z")
I bet Queen Beatrix needed the WMDs to get rid of her daughter in-law’s father. [I bet she kept them under her hat. Maybe under her hair. [which is the same, actually]](http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=8516)😃 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/32 "2004-06-15T15:06:22Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I So definitely missile engines were found that show Iraq was in violation of UN resolutions. Anything else? I don’t see how SA-2’s are relevant to a claim involving WMDs. SAMs aren’t WMDs. > [@](#): > > So we also have undeclared materials that should have been subject to monitoring, but which apparently the UN was unaware that Iraq had. Anything else? How about some, you know, weapons of mass destruction? Perhaps you missed the point of the OP, Sam. The OP was pitting the fact that the headline was SADDAM SHIPPED OUT WMD BEFORE WAR, AFTER. But nothing in the report demonstrates that Iraq shipped out any weapons of mass destruction, ever. You are citing evidence of completely different things. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/33 "2004-06-15T15:47:10Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Aw, c’mon, **Coldfire**. We all know you Dutch boys got legalized dope and hookers over there, and if that don’t make you part of the Axis of Evil, what would? I think that they’d be more accurately classified as the Axis of Fun, or Party Central, if you prefer. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/34 "2004-06-15T21:13:30Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I think that they’d be more accurately classified as the Axis of Fun, or Party Central, if you prefer. From John Asscroft’s POV, what’s the difference? If it’s fun, it must be evil. Ban it! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/35 "2004-06-16T00:18:35Z")
**Rickjay** said: > [@](#): > > Quote: > \*Originally Posted by Sam Stone > I So definitely missile engines were found that show Iraq was in violation of UN resolutions. Anything else? \* > > I don’t see how SA-2’s are relevant to a claim involving WMDs. SAMs aren’t WMDs. Which is why I didn’t call them WMDs. I said that they showed Saddam was in violation of UN resolutions. Those missile engines were proscribed. > [@](#): > > Quote: > \*So we also have undeclared materials that should have been subject to monitoring, but which apparently the UN was unaware that Iraq had. Anything else? \* > > How about some, you know, weapons of mass destruction? > > Perhaps you missed the point of the OP, Sam. The OP was pitting the fact that the headline was SADDAM SHIPPED OUT WMD BEFORE WAR, AFTER. But nothing in the report demonstrates that Iraq shipped out any weapons of mass destruction, ever. You are citing evidence of completely different things. Which would be why I said they were different things. Are we not allowed to discuss other evidence in the same report? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159/36 "2004-07-03T14:18:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > How about some, you know, weapons of mass destruction? May as well ask for hens teeth. It turns out that the Saddamites, terrorists, whatever have been trying to lay their hands on some of those nerve gas shells, and have had no luck even after offering $5,000 a pop: > [@](#): > > Dukaczewski said the Polish unit in Iraq paid an undisclosed sum of money to buy the rockets last month after an informer there told the Poles that militant groups were seeking to buy such weapons for up to $5,000 apiece. “We bought all the shells available,” Dukaczewski said. [Chemicals Not Found in Iraq Warheads](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24403-2004Jul2.html) If neither Baathist holdouts nor the free market can uncover Saddam’s WMD stockpiles, the weapons just aren’t there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wmd-shipped-out-of-iraq-before-and-during-the-war/250159.md?page=1)