Hide And Go Seek (The WMD)

[Agammamon]

According to the AP, Don Rumsfeld has declared that finding the bioweapons that largely underwrote the invasion of Iraq isn't going to happen until Iraqis lead the U.S. right to them.

Reason (http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/)

Funny, I thought we knew where they were before we went in, wasn't that what all of the pictures Powell showed us were about.

[schplurg]

You mean like this? **

Iraqi Scientist Tells All (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/international/worldspecial/21CHEM.html?ex=1051502400&en=558d236c00fc7bc9&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1)

I believe it was known that Iraq had such weapons, but not necessarily exactly where they were. This article may answer that question though.

They said the scientist led Americans to a supply of material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, which he claimed to have buried as evidence of Iraq's illicit weapons programs.

The scientist also told American weapons experts that Iraq had secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria, starting in the mid-1990's, and that more recently Iraq was cooperating with Al Qaeda, the military officials said.

The Americans said the scientist told them that President Saddam Hussein's government had destroyed some stockpiles of deadly agents as early as the mid-1990's, transferred others to Syria, and had recently focused its efforts instead on research and development projects that are virtually impervious to detection by international inspectors, and even American forces on the ground combing through Iraq's giant weapons plants.

........

The officials quoted him as saying he had watched several months before the outbreak of the war as Iraqis buried chemical precursors and other sensitive material to conceal and preserve them for future use. The officials said the scientist showed them documents, samples, and other evidence of the program that he claimed to have stolen to prove that the program existed.

** 48 hour rule :)

[Ben Shniper]

I'll be the first to admit that I was played for a fool by the current administration if we don't find solid evidence of WMD. And, since Saddam was too unthoughtful to use them, we may never get an honest answer from many news sources as to whether he had them or not. Short of him using them, many, such as the French, may never be convinced.

What should we take as passable evidence that Saddam had these weapons?

-Ben

[Agammamon]

I Dunno. Chemical weapon factories look an awful lot like regular chemical factories, bioweapon facilities look an awful lot like breweries. Most likely we'll need to find a facility for putting the stuff into shell and rockets (which to produce a lot of munitions can't be small or mobile). But W said we had "proof" it was there, if the proof was so good as to be able to justify an invasion, why can't we find the stuff now that we've almost got total control of the country?