Weapons of Mass
Destruction -- and Obstruction...
Mark Alexander (back to
web version) | Send
October 10, 2003
Last week, CIA
adviser and head of the Iraq Survey Group David Kay offered his interim report
to Congress on his team's three-month-old search for evidence of Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction. The report states, "Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than
two decades, involved thousands of people, billions of dollars, and was
elaborately shielded by security and deception operations that continued even
beyond the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. ... [Saddam had] dozens of
WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq
concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late
2002. The discovery of these deliberate concealment efforts have come about both
through the admissions of Iraqi scientists and officials concerning information
they deliberately withheld and through physical evidence of equipment and
activities that ISG has discovered that should have been declared to the UN."
President Bush made it plain to the United Nations a year ago that his
principal concern in a post-September 11 world was not merely that a rogue
regime such as Saddam Hussein's had WMD programs, but that such horrific weapons
could find their way out of Iraq into the hands of surrogate
terrorists.
The U.S. inspection team has uncovered significant evidence
of chemical- and biological-weapons programs, and even more extensive evidence
of Iraq's missile program -- all banned under UN resolutions. Kay reported
Saddam's Iraq to have been in violation of UN sanctions in at least nine
separate covert programs. The inspectors also found evidence of chemical- and
biological-weapons testing on humans. This preliminary report -- after only
three months of investigation -- stands in stark contrast to 12 years of failed
United Nations weapons inspections; a failure culminating in the UN Security
Council's weak-kneed acquiescence to Saddam.
National Security Director
Condoleezza Rice concludes that if the UNSC had known what Kay's preliminary
report shows, they would have supported military action against Saddam Hussein.
"Had any one of these examples been discovered last winter, the Security Council
would have had to meet. And I believe that they would have had no choice but to
take exactly the course that President Bush followed," said Dr. Rice. "Right up
until the end, Saddam Hussein continued to torture and oppress his people. Right
up until the end, Saddam Hussein lied to the Security Council. ... And let there
be no mistake, right up to the end, Saddam Hussein continued to harbor ambitions
to threaten the world with weapons of mass destruction and to hide his illegal
weapons activities."
The ISG interim report confirms Iraq had weapons
programs, but it did not confirm where those weapons are -- particularly his
nuclear and biological stores. Of course, as we have noted before, absence of
evidence is not evidence of absence. The question is not whether Saddam had nuke
and bio WMD, but where he hid them during the months when the French were
sticking their thumb in America's eye to stall military action against Saddam's
rogue regime.
Despite ranting from Leftist political hacks and their
media minions, finding and destroying these WMD stores has nothing to do with
political expedience. Rather, it has everything to do with the likelihood that
what we don't find today will visit our shores in a most terrible way tomorrow.
There is a substantial body of intelligence, as The Federalist reported
in November of '02, that Iraq shipped some or all of its biological and nuclear
WMD stores to Syria and Lebanon's heavily fortified Bekaa Valley.
Indeed,
additional intelligence this week indicates Syria is active in the production of
biological and chemical weapons -- quite possibly taking up where Saddam left
off. An opponent to the ousting of Iraq's Ba'athists, Syria's foreign minister,
Farouk al-Sharaa, made his country's position clear, saying, "Syria's interest
is to see the invaders defeated in Iraq." Even more alarming, Damascus is
pursuing a nuclear weapons program as well, under the guise of nuclear-energy
development. The Syrians are conducting their nuclear R&D with contracted
Russian aid...the precise pattern already observed in Iran.
Of course,
Ted Kennedy and company would not acknowledge Saddam's WMD program if he
personally detonated a nuke under their Franco derrières.
In a strategic
move to accelerate the democratization and reconstruction of Iraq, President
Bush this week named NSA Rice to head the newly formed "Iraq Stabilization
Group." The administration hopes the group, under Rice's leadership, will serve
a sort of "traffic cop" function by coordinating operations between the
different civilian and military agencies already at work in the region. In
addition, the group is expected to eliminate much of the red tape separating
requests to Washington from needs in Iraq. The White House emphasized that Dr.
Rice's new role will not compete with that of Iraqi interim administrator L.
Paul Bremer, but will bolster and support his reconstruction work. Specifically,
the work of Dr. Rice's team will be divided into four areas: counterterrorism,
economics, communications and politics.
It is also hoped that the new
post will help assuage concerns in Congress over the reconstruction process and
lead to a speedy approval of the President's latest request of $21 billion in
additional reconstruction funding.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration is
cooling to the idea of seeking UN approval and support for the rebuilding of
Iraq after a revised proposal was met with skepticism from Secretary General
Kofi Annan and other members of the UNSC. The striking contrast between recent
NATO cooperation and UN obstructionism in the wars aftermath may point to a
viable future for multilateral, "coalition of the willing"-style, security
operations.
As progress continues along the diplomatic, governmental,
reconstruction and economic fronts, The Federalist reminds its readers
that the democratization of the Middle East is in the vital national security
interest of the United States and the Western world.
Quote of the
week...
"The deadly combination of outlaw regimes, terror
networks and weapons of mass murder is a peril that cannot be ignored or wished
away."
--President George W. Bush
On
cross-examination...
"I keep hearing in the press that the
United States is going it alone -- what a funny thing to say. We have 32
countries working with us in Iraq. Eleven of our 19 NATO nations have forces in
Iraq today. NATO is assisting Poland as it prepares to lead a multinational
division in south-central Iraq, comprising forces from 17 different nations in
that one division."
-- Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld
Open query...
"Those who question the
wisdom of removing Saddam Hussein from power, and liberating Iraq, should ask
themselves: 'How long should Saddam Hussein have been allowed to torture the
Iraqi people? How long should Saddam Hussein have been allowed to remain the
greatest source of instability in one of the world's most vital regions? How
long should Saddam Hussein have been allowed to provide support and safe-haven
to terrorists? How long should Saddam Hussein have been allowed to defy the
world's just demand to disarm? How long should the world have closed its eyes to
the threat that was Saddam Hussein? Let us be clear: those were the alternatives
to action."
--NSA Condoleezza Rice
From the "Non Compos
Mentis" Files...
On November 7, George H.W. Bush, that's
Bush(41), father of Bush(43) as you may recall, will personally present the 2003
George Bush Award for Excellence in Public Service to -- Sen. Edward Kennedy
(D-Bushwhack), the first American to receive the award. In announcing the award,
the Bush Presidential Foundation noted Ted Kennedy, after 41 years in the
Senate, has "consistently and courageously fought for his principles ... his
commitment to excellence in public policy and his devotion to public service
serve as an inspiration to all Americans." Well -- that's certainly more than we
can say for the guy presenting the award!
This is the same Teddy Kennedy
who is constantly chastising Bush(43) for his policy in Iraq, claiming, "There
was no imminent threat [in Iraq]. This was made up in Texas, announced in
January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was
going to be good politically. The whole thing was a fraud." He characterized
David Kay's report on Saddam's WMD as "an insult to our troops," adding, "the
tragedy is that our troops are paying with their lives because their
commander-in-chief let them down."
That notwithstanding, Bush
Presidential Foundation spokesman Penrod Thornton said that Mr. Kennedy is
indeed the "appropriate" winner. Mr. Bush(41), it’s worth noting, has sole
discretion as to who receives the award.
Mark Alexander is Executive Editor and Publisher of The Federalist, a Townhall.com member group.
©2003 The Federalist
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