Author Topic: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??  (Read 569 times)

King Tech Quadafi

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Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« on: September 18, 2002, 01:23:22 PM »
Published on Saturday, July 20, 2002 in the Boston Globe  
Is Iraq a True Threat to the US?  
by Scott Ritter
 
RECENT PRESS reports indicate that planning for war against Iraq has advanced significantly. When combined with revelations about the granting of presidential authority to the CIA for covert operations aimed at eliminating Saddam Hussein, it appears that the United States is firmly committed to a path that will lead toward war with Iraq.

Prior to this occurring, we would do well to reflect on the words of President Abraham Lincoln who, in his Gettysburg Address, defined the essence of why democracies like ours go to war: so ``... that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.''

Does Iraq truly threaten the existence of our nation? If one takes at face value the rhetoric emanating from the Bush administration, it would seem so. According to President Bush and his advisers, Iraq is known to possess weapons of mass destruction and is actively seeking to reconstitute the weapons production capabilities that had been eliminated by UN weapons inspectors from 1991 to 1998, while at the same time barring the resumption of such inspections.

I bear personal witness through seven years as a chief weapons inspector in Iraq for the United Nations to both the scope of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs and the effectiveness of the UN weapons inspectors in ultimately eliminating them.

While we were never able to provide 100 percent certainty regarding the disposition of Iraq's proscribed weaponry, we did ascertain a 90-95 percent level of verified disarmament. This figure takes into account the destruction or dismantling of every major factory associated with prohibited weapons manufacture, all significant items of production equipment, and the majority of the weapons and agent produced by Iraq.

With the exception of mustard agent, all chemical agent produced by Iraq prior to 1990 would have degraded within five years (the jury is still out regarding Iraq's VX nerve agent program - while inspectors have accounted for the laboratories, production equipment and most of the agent produced from 1990-91, major discrepancies in the Iraqi accounting preclude any final disposition at this time.)

The same holds true for biological agent, which would have been neutralized through natural processes within three years of manufacture. Effective monitoring inspections, fully implemented from 1994-1998 without any significant obstruction from Iraq, never once detected any evidence of retained proscribed activity or effort by Iraq to reconstitute that capability which had been eliminated through inspections.

In direct contrast to these findings, the Bush administration provides only speculation, failing to detail any factually based information to bolster its claims concerning Iraq's continued possession of or ongoing efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. To date no one has held the Bush administration accountable for its unwillingness - or inability - to provide such evidence.

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld notes that ``the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.'' This only reinforces the fact that the case for war against Iraq fails to meet the litmus test for the defense of our national existence so eloquently phrased by President Lincoln.

War should never be undertaken lightly. Our nation's founders recognized this when they penned our Constitution, giving the authority to declare war to Congress and not to the president. Yet on the issue of war with Iraq, Congress remains disturbingly mute.

Critical hearings should be convened by Congress that will ask the Bush administration tough questions about the true nature of the threat posed to the United States by Iraq. Congress should reject speculation and demand substantive answers. The logical forum for such a hearing would be the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

Unfortunately, the senators entrusted with such critical oversight responsibilities shy away from this task. This includes Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran who should understand the realities and consequences of war and the absolute requirement for certainty before committing to a course of conflict.

The apparent unwillingness of Congress to exercise its constitutional mandate of oversight, especially with regard to matters of war, represents a serious blow to American democracy. By allowing the Bush administration, in its rush toward conflict with Iraq, to circumvent the concepts of democratic accountability, Congress is failing those to whom they are ultimately responsible - the American people


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0721-02.htm

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Zero4eva

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2002, 01:26:03 PM »
rumsfeld is an asshole.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

Woodrow

Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2002, 02:16:52 PM »
Quote
Published on Saturday, July 20, 2002 in the Boston Globe  
Is Iraq a True Threat to the US?  
by Scott Ritter
 
RECENT PRESS reports indicate that planning for war against Iraq has advanced significantly. When combined with revelations about the granting of presidential authority to the CIA for covert operations aimed at eliminating Saddam Hussein, it appears that the United States is firmly committed to a path that will lead toward war with Iraq.

Prior to this occurring, we would do well to reflect on the words of President Abraham Lincoln who, in his Gettysburg Address, defined the essence of why democracies like ours go to war: so ``... that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.''

Does Iraq truly threaten the existence of our nation? If one takes at face value the rhetoric emanating from the Bush administration, it would seem so. According to President Bush and his advisers, Iraq is known to possess weapons of mass destruction and is actively seeking to reconstitute the weapons production capabilities that had been eliminated by UN weapons inspectors from 1991 to 1998, while at the same time barring the resumption of such inspections.

I bear personal witness through seven years as a chief weapons inspector in Iraq for the United Nations to both the scope of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs and the effectiveness of the UN weapons inspectors in ultimately eliminating them.

While we were never able to provide 100 percent certainty regarding the disposition of Iraq's proscribed weaponry, we did ascertain a 90-95 percent level of verified disarmament. This figure takes into account the destruction or dismantling of every major factory associated with prohibited weapons manufacture, all significant items of production equipment, and the majority of the weapons and agent produced by Iraq.

With the exception of mustard agent, all chemical agent produced by Iraq prior to 1990 would have degraded within five years (the jury is still out regarding Iraq's VX nerve agent program - while inspectors have accounted for the laboratories, production equipment and most of the agent produced from 1990-91, major discrepancies in the Iraqi accounting preclude any final disposition at this time.)

The same holds true for biological agent, which would have been neutralized through natural processes within three years of manufacture. Effective monitoring inspections, fully implemented from 1994-1998 without any significant obstruction from Iraq, never once detected any evidence of retained proscribed activity or effort by Iraq to reconstitute that capability which had been eliminated through inspections.

In direct contrast to these findings, the Bush administration provides only speculation, failing to detail any factually based information to bolster its claims concerning Iraq's continued possession of or ongoing efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. To date no one has held the Bush administration accountable for its unwillingness - or inability - to provide such evidence.

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld notes that ``the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.'' This only reinforces the fact that the case for war against Iraq fails to meet the litmus test for the defense of our national existence so eloquently phrased by President Lincoln.

War should never be undertaken lightly. Our nation's founders recognized this when they penned our Constitution, giving the authority to declare war to Congress and not to the president. Yet on the issue of war with Iraq, Congress remains disturbingly mute.

Critical hearings should be convened by Congress that will ask the Bush administration tough questions about the true nature of the threat posed to the United States by Iraq. Congress should reject speculation and demand substantive answers. The logical forum for such a hearing would be the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

Unfortunately, the senators entrusted with such critical oversight responsibilities shy away from this task. This includes Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran who should understand the realities and consequences of war and the absolute requirement for certainty before committing to a course of conflict.

The apparent unwillingness of Congress to exercise its constitutional mandate of oversight, especially with regard to matters of war, represents a serious blow to American democracy. By allowing the Bush administration, in its rush toward conflict with Iraq, to circumvent the concepts of democratic accountability, Congress is failing those to whom they are ultimately responsible - the American people


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0721-02.htm



Before we start, Let me show proof that Scott Ritter took a payment of $400,000 from an individual that has ties to the Iraqi Government. Ritter admitted this himself. You can see this is the articles below.

When questioned on the subject of a trip Ritter took to Iraq, he contridicted himself. Here is a direct quote:

"ASMAN: They paid for the trip to Iraq.
RITTER: It was paid for by the Public Institute of Accuracy."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62916,00.html

Yet here when talking about his trip to Iraq he says the following:
"ZAHN: Who paid for your last trip to Baghdad?
RITTER: I paid for it, together with donations from American anti-sanctions movement, the Institute for Public Accuracy -- the Iraqi government had nothing to do with funding this trip, or even organizing this trip."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/09/13/ritter.cnna/index.html



Q: "Does Iraq truly threaten the existence of our nation?"

A: Yes it does.
-In 1993 after loosing the Gulf war, Saddam dispatched a team of assins to kill George bush. If this isnt a threat, I don't know what is.

-In the no fly zone over Iraq, it's almost a daily occurance that our planes come under fire from the Iraqi's.
"The Iraqis have opened fire 60 times on U.S. patrols in the north, the last time on Wednesday. "
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/09/14/iraq.pilots.ap/index.html

-Saddam Wants and might  a nuclear weapon and could have one within a few months
"It could, [iraq] however, assemble nuclear weapons within months if fissile material from foreign sources were obtained."
http://www.iiss.org/news-more.php?itemID=88

Yes Iraq is a threat to the USA. It has weapons, and using history as an indication, will use them aginst the United states if it gets the chance. Czech intelligence reported that a meeting between an Iraqi intelligence agent and Mohamed Atta (9/11 ringleader) took place. This proves that Iraq has had contact with Al Queda. What is to stop them from giving their weapons of mass destruction to people who don't like us?
Here are quotes from the NY Post on 9/16 2002:

"intelligence officials fear that Saddam Hussein has concocted a doomsday plan that would use al Qaeda to attack America with Iraqi-provided biological weapons..."

"Faced with a war that would bring down his regime, the Butcher of Baghdad, they fear, will fire chemical or biological warheads on U.S. bases in the region, as well as at Israel, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Even more chilling, Saddam could provide al Qaeda or other terror groups with easy-to-conceal biological agents that could be smuggled into U.S. and Israeli cities - once he sees a serious American military build-up, officials said."
http://nypost.com/news/worldnews/57127.htm

There has not been a weapons inspector in Iraq since 1998. Who knows what they could have made in the 4 years without inspections?











« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

King Tech Quadafi

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2002, 02:55:01 PM »
ah this is more like it

see i see what u sayin, but cmon...

he could...he might...analysts fear...

its all hogwash

Scott Ritter is the person best qualifiedto make a  statement on Iraqs weaponry

And lets not forget, Ritter was accused by Baghdad of being an American Spy. So its no like their bedfellows. And plus, Ritter was meeting with Israeli officials while he was conducting those weapons inspections. (Dont worry ill find the link)

The facts surrounding that meeting between ATTA and that Iraqi officials is very murky indeed.  Check out the latest issue of Newsweek. I believe its entitled "The monster we created" sumthin like that, Inside they have an article detailing the growing rift between CIA and Pentagon intelligence su\ources. The CIA dude even admits, shit aint 100% about that Czech meeting.

The attempted assasination of George H Bush doesnt constitute  a threat to your nations existence.
Remember when Qaddafi sent those hit squads to the States to take out Reagan in the 1980s? Nothing is being said of that.

And as for the no fly zones, America and Britain are violating the soverignity of a independant nation, but instituting these illegal enforcements. They have taken out Iraqs ability to use its defence systems, Iraq is defending their skies from Enemy aircraft

my 0.2
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Don Jacob

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2002, 09:31:38 PM »
you got to look at it like this and see where we're coming from with this iraqi stuff


the clinton administration had the oppourtunity to wipe out bin laden but we pussy footed around it and booom sept. 11 our people die, when we could've took care of it easily, soooooo we think hmmmmm we shouldn't pussy foot around like that no more when we think someone is a serious threat to us huh? if we got the chance we should take care of the proble imidiately ................so if you want to point fingers blame your guy bin laden for giving us a reason to be so trigger happy towards our enemies



we have the opportunity to get rid of a seriously evil dictator in iraq , we've ALWAYS had the chance to do it but never have, so why let another attack happen to the US?




my government BY LAW has to provide for my common defence.......so let it be
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »


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King Tech Quadafi

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2002, 09:35:59 AM »
yes u'r logic makes sense except for one thing

Iraq is not a threat to the US, when the hell will u guys see that?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Woodrow

Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2002, 10:04:56 AM »
Quote
yes u'r logic makes sense except for one thing

Iraq is not a threat to the US, when the hell will u guys see that?


You haven't proven that it is NOT a threat...
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

ILL-Logic-AL

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2002, 11:12:21 AM »
Quote

You haven't proven that it is NOT a threat...


Just like the American Goverment hasn't proven that they are a threat.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

Woodrow

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

Sikotic™

Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2002, 04:42:59 PM »
I believe they are a threat. I still ain't justifying US actions.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
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Don Jacob

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2002, 05:01:49 PM »
our governments job is to "provide for the common defence"
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »


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King Tech Quadafi

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« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Woodrow

Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2002, 09:26:43 AM »
Quote


And plus, Ritter was meeting with Israeli officials while he was conducting those weapons inspections. (Dont worry ill find the link)


Im waiting.

Quote

The facts surrounding that meeting between ATTA and that Iraqi officials is very murky indeed.  Check out the latest issue of Newsweek. I believe its entitled "The monster we created" sumthin like that, Inside they have an article detailing the growing rift between CIA and Pentagon intelligence su\ources. The CIA dude even admits, shit aint 100% about that Czech meeting.

I've got the newsweek in front of me... What page is it on?

Quote

The attempted assasination of George H Bush doesnt constitute  a threat to your nations existence.
Remember when Qaddafi sent those hit squads to the States to take out Reagan in the 1980s? Nothing is being said of that.

I think it does. The President is the Commander in cheif of our country. Take him out and sure, we have a line of succession, but it's still a threat to our nation.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

King Tech Quadafi

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Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2002, 09:32:00 AM »
Quote


Im waiting.

I've got the newsweek in front of me... What page is it on?

I think it does. The President is the Commander in cheif of our country. Take him out and sure, we have a line of succession, but it's still a threat to our nation.


1.keep waiting, ill bring it

2. what do u want me to do? feed u? breast feed u ? you have the issue,look for it !!

3. yet again, you still tryin to make a connection between Iraq and the threat to the existence of the United States
Its not workin

Tell me how the attempted assasination of a former president constitutes a threat to your nations security and existence?

Im still waiting
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Woodrow

Re: Is Iraq A True Threat ot the US??
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2002, 09:44:13 AM »
Quote


1.keep waiting, ill bring it

2. what do u want me to do? feed u? breast feed u ? you have the issue,look for it !!

3. yet again, you still tryin to make a connection between Iraq and the threat to the existence of the United States
Its not workin

Tell me how the attempted assasination of a former president constitutes a threat to your nations security and existence?

Im still waiting


I've got an idea! Let's look at this thread from the begining in regards to You and I.

1.) You post up the Editorial.
3.) I counter the editorial with proof that Iraq is making weapons of mass destruction, and that they are a threat to the USA.
4.) You come back with no proof, just opinion.
5.) I give more links relating to the danger Iraq poses to the USA.
6.) You come back with still no proof, and say that you won the argument, case closed...


Some other points:

-Why are you still waiting? You never were wating in the first place.

-Even if scott ritter met with Isreal, what does that prove?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »