WMDs in Iraq

Since we just celebrated Independence Day number 230, I think it would be an appropriate, patriotic exercise to ask the question: To whom do we grant the benefit of the doubt, to the President, or to our enemies? A couple of weeks ago Sen. Santorum and Rep. Hoekstra held a press conference where they revealed the recently declassified Intelligence report claiming WMDs had indeed been found in Iraq. One would think this type of information would be welcomed as a unifying insight to help strengthen our resolve for the war, but Liberals, predictably, are instead making excuses for why we should remain skeptical and divided on this core issue that’s defining our time.

The report states that since 2003, Coalition Forces have recovered approximately 500 weapon munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Liberal critics, who showed no caution or qualification in calling President Bush a liar before, are now fervently equivocating for the benefit of our enemy by saying that such WMD discoveries are insignificant and irrelevant. How convenient for them!

Even if all of these particular projectiles of chemical weapons are pre-’91 and degraded, as some suggest, it doesn’t change the fact that it was illegal for Saddam Hussein to have them in the first place, and that it was he, and not Bush, who was the Liar. This proves that Saddam was explicitly in violation of some 14 separate UN Security Council Resolutions that prohibited him from having these agents. And, though they have degraded and weakened over time, nevertheless, experts maintain that these canisters remain a very deadly threat. Funny how the UN and Liberals can talk a big game, condemning Iraq for their WMDs before the war asClinton, Kerry and Kennedy did, only to shrink from the fight once tough action is required to do something about it. After Saddam kicked out the UN weapon inspectors in ’98, what else could have been done- wait and watch him nuke Jerusalem?

Besides this report, and the pre-war, historical record of various Intelligence agencies from around the world, there’s also three other credible sources to consider which have chronicled the discovery of WMDs in Iraq: Richard Miniter, Georges Sada and Israel. Miniter is an internationally-recognized expert on Terrorism. In his book, “Disinformation” he catalogs the recovery in Iraq of 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium, 1,500 gallons of chemical weapons, 1,000 radioactive materials and 17 chemical warheads with cyclosarin- an agent several times more deadly than sarin.

Geoges Sada, who was an Iraqi General and the number two official in Saddam Hussein’s Air Force, offers a compelling testimony from his unique, inside perspective. In his book, “Saddam’s Secrets” he talks about dozens of active WMD production facilities in operation during the 90’s. Sada, a Christian who now works for World Compassion, a humanitarian ministry headquartered in Tulsa, OK, also exposed Saddam’s plan to attack Israel with both chemical and nuclear weapons. Coincidently, Sada relates how it was on the very eve of our invasion that Saddam was actually in the process of launching a new chemical attack on Israel.

We should never forget that Saddam did attack Israel in the first Gulf War with SCUD missiles. He also used chemical weapons on his own people, in the horrendous 1988 genocidal attack where he gassed the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Is it so outrageous to think that he would have done so again?

Saddam, according to Sada, engineered a meticulous plan to hide his WMDs prior to the war by moving them to Syria. Syria had the misfortune of experiencing a catastrophic natural disaster in the summer of 2000 and Saddam used this tragedy as an opportunity to conceal his illegal weapons as emergency aid. Loaded upon commercial trucks, ambulances and reconfigured Boeing airliners, Saddam strategically relocated thousands of tons of chemical weapons into Syria. In December of 2002, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also confirmed that chemical and biological weapons from Iraq had been moved into Syria. In addition, Israel’s top General, Mosha Yaalon is also on record alleging this Syrian relocation of WMDs occurring during the time of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Is it conceivable to believe that all of these men are lying? Maybe if your name is Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon or Natalie Maines!

Liberals have shown very little tolerance for these facts. Ted Kennedy has said, “there’s no question (the Bush Administration) misled the nation and led us into a quagmire in Iraq.”Jimmy Carter has flatly called Bush “dishonest,” and Al Gore describes Bush’s “march to war” as an “abuse of the truth.” One has to wonder what side they’re truly on! In Connecticut, Democrat Sen. Joe Leiberman is now, unbelievably, being confronted with charges from his own party that he’s not a true Democrat because he favors the war! His Democrat-primary opponent Ned Lamont is claiming Leiberman is really more of a Republican than a Democrat simply because he refuses to adopt the “mainstream” Democrat position of an immediate pull-out out of Iraq. Hillary Clinton has abandoned Leiberman and Maxine Waters has just announced she’s on her way to Connecticut to help Lamont. Amazing how fast one can move from a party’s candidate
for Vice President to party outcast. The Liberal mindset on Iraq is definitely twisted and has poisoned their sense of rational debate. Instead of abiding by the time-honored tradition of showing bipartisan unity beyond “the water’s edge,” Liberals now seem to relish every opportunity to divide and discredit our nation’s foreign policy in spite of the aid and comfort it clearly gives to our enemies. It seems, as Reagan once said, that Liberals can only build themselves up by tearing America down. It’s the classic “blame America first” strategy. Yet, in the spirit of this month’s celebration of 230 years of Independence, I’d like to believe there’s hope that someday we might find some unity for our country’s foreign engagements. But, given the prevailing attitude found on the Left today…something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath.
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