CNN Reporting Bin Laden is dead

[tufsu1]

Did Sadaam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction or not?

That is a yes or no question.

actually I think its more of a "I'm not sure" answer...there was proof at one time that he did have them...and he may or may not have had them in 2003.

I think the correct question would be "Did we or did we not find WMD?"

[Timkin]

Chris,.. what do you think Bush's real reason for the invasion of Iraq, was?  I always was under the impression that it had to do with oil, since he is in the oil business... not really the events of 9/11.

[ChriswUfGator]

Did Sadaam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction or not?

That is a yes or no question.

actually I think its more of a "I'm not sure" answer...there was proof at one time that he did have them...and he may or may not have had them in 2003.

I think the correct question would be "Did we or did we not find WMD?"

The intelligence claiming Saddam had WMDs was completely fabricated, as everyone in the CIA and NSA, together with most of our State Department (example: Joe Wilson) knew and said at the time. Bush chose to ignore the myriad objections and proceed on known-faulty intelligence for personal reasons we'll probably never understand. But there was no credible threat, even at the time half this country, the UN, and the rest of the world knew the pretext was B.S. and said as much. If MetroJacksonville had existed in 2003, I would have been here saying the same, along with Stephen Dare, and NotNow, BridgeTroll, and RiversideGator would have been calling us liars. It was obvious to everyone who cared to look.

And this is no longer a hypothetical of "who knew what when" Tufsu. As everyone including Bush himself has since acknowledged, Saddam never had the WMDs we claimed he did. It was total rubbish.

Even the silly Elvis-sighters like NotNow who want to argue that some mustard gas leftover from the 1980s and decayed powerplant fuel left over from the 1970s somehow constitutes the "WMDs" Bush claimed Saddam had, that argument is still blown up because it's not a hypothetical anymore, we wrongfully took over the country to find a handful of decrepit containers rusting into the desert, where they were left three decades ago. So much for these alleged nuclear weapons programs.

If anyone wants to continue arguing this, answer the simple question; Did Saddam have WMDs or not?

[NotNow]

It's interesting that you guys have erupted in such a manner on the basis of stating a single fact.  Facts make no inferences.   Individuals infer from facts.  It is obvious that you guys feel strongly about your opinions.  You have drawn your own conclusions.  What I think makes no difference.  I think that your reaction is what is interesting here.  I'll go way back in the discussion to find agreement.  I am sure we all agree that the US action in securing and removing the YCU was a good thing, just our recent success in locating and eliminating OBL was a good thing.  

I am quite impressed that the controllers of this site have no problem with the military operation that resulted in OBL's death.  I am assuming that you feel that the incursion into Pakistan was at least justified, if not legal?

[ChriswUfGator]

Chris,.. what do you think Bush's real reason for the invasion of Iraq, was?  I always was under the impression that it had to do with oil, since he is in the oil business... not really the events of 9/11.

I think the movie "W" pegged that pretty well. That's just my opinion though. No way to know WTF he was really thinking. Not like he's going to truthfully admit whatever his motivation was at this point.

[tufsu1]

If anyone wants to continue arguing this, answer the simple question; Did Saddam have WMDs or not?

fine...I'll play...at one time, YES...he used them on his own people!

[ChriswUfGator]

It's interesting that you guys have erupted in such a manner on the basis of stating a single fact.  Facts make no inferences.   Individuals infer from facts.  It is obvious that you guys feel strongly about your opinions.  You have drawn your own conclusions.  What I think makes no difference.  I think that your reaction is what is interesting here.  I'll go way back in the discussion to find agreement.  I am sure we all agree that the US action in securing and removing the YCU was a good thing, just our recent success in locating and eliminating OBL was a good thing.  

I am quite impressed that the controllers of this site have no problem with the military operation that resulted in OBL's death.  I am assuming that you feel that the incursion into Pakistan was at least justified, if not legal?

Actually, I'm downright thrilled OBL was executed. What I can't understand is why your Chimperor called off the search for him in 2003, and instead decided it would be an awesome idea to invade a country that posed no threat to us and hadn't had anything whatsoever to do with 9/11. Real stroke of genuis there.

[ChriswUfGator]

If anyone wants to continue arguing this, answer the simple question; Did Saddam have WMDs or not?

fine...I'll play...at one time, YES...he used them on his own people!

Mustard gas isn't any more of a "WMD" than bullets or bombs, Tufsu. It's a perversion of the term.

[RiversideLoki]

Sneakily changed my post.

In the classical sense of the word, the answer is "no". Yellowcake is no more a WMD than a drum full of coffee creamer (which is explosive) if you can't do anything with it.

He had left over nerve gas shells from forever ago that couldn't have been fired. (I'm assuming you've seen the pictures of those shells, right?) Which wouldn't amount to nothing more than a weapon of mass annoyance in the fact that they were so rusted and leaking that they probably didn't have much potency.

I find both of those facts to be hardly the basis for invading a country. And why the hell are we talking about Iraq anyway? This is a thread about Bin Laden being dead. Which is a good thing, but some right wingers are so intent on sticking their heads in the sand and screaming "LALALALALA" that they can't see the benefit of the guy being dead, or they don't want "our side" to be awarded the victory that bush stated "I really just don't spend that much time on him, to be honest with you." (direct quote.)

[NotNow]

At least I can honestly say that Chris has exposed his thought process completely here.  Thanks Chris!  You have lived up to my expectations of you.  

The oil angle is interesting.  How much profit has been made on Iraqi oil by American companies?  A lot?

[Timkin]

It was simply a theory... Pretty much everyone knows W is in the oil business. 

[NotNow]

I know that Im not really interested in talking about anything else o this subject with you until you address the question you refuse to answer.

I think it is quite clear to most readers here that you seem to have some bizarre reason for not answering a very easy, straightforward question.

Did Saddaam Hussein have WMDs that Bush claimed?

What on earth would keep you from answering this?

Until you do, I don't think you are very credible on this subject.

At all.

Why should I answer the question?  Haven't you answered it yourself?  Haven't you stated, over and over, that there was no WMD in Iraq?  

I haven't asked for credibility.  I simply stated a fact.  There was 550 tons of yellow cake uranium in Iraq.  It was secured and transported out of the country by the US.  What could be more "credible" than a simple fact that we all agree on, don't we?

[NotNow]

If anyone wants to continue arguing this, answer the simple question; Did Saddam have WMDs or not?

fine...I'll play...at one time, YES...he used them on his own people!

quoted for posterity.

So, you are claiming that Saddaam nuked the iraqi people?

"The Halabja poison gas attack (Kurdish: Kîmyabarana Helebce), also known as Halabja massacre or Bloody Friday,[1] was a massacre that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iranâ€"Iraq War, when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people, and injured around 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians;[1][2] thousands more died of complications, diseases, and birth defects in the years after the attack.[3] The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq,[4] was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.[5]

The Halabja attack has been recognized as a separate event from the Anfal Genocide that was also conducted against the Kurdish people by the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein.[6] The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010, a decision welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government.[7] The attack was also condemned as a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Canada.[8]"

[NotNow]

At least I can honestly say that Chris has exposed his thought process completely here.  Thanks Chris!  You have lived up to my expectations of you. 

The oil angle is interesting.  How much profit has been made on Iraqi oil by American companies?  A lot?

Uninteresting.

Did Saddaam Hussein have nukes?

Uninteresting.  How much money has America made on Iraqi oil?

[NotNow]

It's interesting that you guys have erupted in such a manner on the basis of stating a single fact.  Facts make no inferences.   Individuals infer from facts.  It is obvious that you guys feel strongly about your opinions.  You have drawn your own conclusions.  What I think makes no difference.  I think that your reaction is what is interesting here.  I'll go way back in the discussion to find agreement.  I am sure we all agree that the US action in securing and removing the YCU was a good thing, just our recent success in locating and eliminating OBL was a good thing.  

I am quite impressed that the controllers of this site have no problem with the military operation that resulted in OBL's death.  I am assuming that you feel that the incursion into Pakistan was at least justified, if not legal?

Actually, I'm downright thrilled OBL was executed. What I can't understand is why your Chimperor called off the search for him in 2003, and instead decided it would be an awesome idea to invade a country that posed no threat to us and hadn't had anything whatsoever to do with 9/11. Real stroke of genuis there.

I agree that we were justified in entering Pakistan AND in killing OBL.  I do not agree with name calling and attempts to personalize.  Seems a bit...childish.