Thursday, December 15, 2005
Israeli General: Saddam's WMDs Went To Syria
In the wake of Dubya's reaffirmation of his decision to take down Saddam and bring democracy to Iraq, Ira Stoll writes in the NY Sun what the rest of the MSM has consistently ignored: that Israeli military leadership, including PM Ariel Sharon, still insists that Saddam's WMDs were transferred to Syria weeks before the invasion of Iraq.
Stoll notes that "An official at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, Entifadh Qanbar, said he believed the Israeli general's account, but that the Iraqi government is 'basically operating in the dark' because it does not have its own intelligence agency."
Stoll goes on to point out, "An article in the Fall 2005 Middle East Quarterly reports that in an appearance on Israel's Channel 2 on December 23, 2002, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon stated, 'Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria.' The allegation was denied by the Syrian government at the time as "completely untrue," and it attracted scant American press attention, coming as it did on the eve of the Christmas holiday."
The Dentist of Damascus' word being what it is, the probability of Saddam's WMDs resting comfortably in Syria cannot yet be dismissed.
UPDATE:
Blogs For Bush presents this list of articles on the WMD-in-Syria story:
"Of course, we've reported on evidence reaching the same conclusion for a long time now:
What David Kay Said That The Left Won’t Tell You,
More Weapons of Mass Destruction Reportedly Found in Iraq
WMD Found In Iraq Twice This Month
Duelfer: 'A lot of material left Iraq and went to Syria'
Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms
The Russians Took Iraq's WMDs
Where Did The WMDs Go?
...So I'm not counting on anything to be done about this news yet. Considering the ample amount of advanced notice Saddam had prior to the liberation of Iraq, it is certainly reasonable to suspect that WMDs were effectively hidden in Iraq and/or moved out of the country, particularly to Syria... Why nothing has been done to prove or disprove the 'WMDs were moved to Syria' theory is beyond me..."
Stoll notes that "An official at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, Entifadh Qanbar, said he believed the Israeli general's account, but that the Iraqi government is 'basically operating in the dark' because it does not have its own intelligence agency."
Stoll goes on to point out, "An article in the Fall 2005 Middle East Quarterly reports that in an appearance on Israel's Channel 2 on December 23, 2002, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon stated, 'Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria.' The allegation was denied by the Syrian government at the time as "completely untrue," and it attracted scant American press attention, coming as it did on the eve of the Christmas holiday."
The Dentist of Damascus' word being what it is, the probability of Saddam's WMDs resting comfortably in Syria cannot yet be dismissed.
UPDATE:
Blogs For Bush presents this list of articles on the WMD-in-Syria story:
"Of course, we've reported on evidence reaching the same conclusion for a long time now:
What David Kay Said That The Left Won’t Tell You,
More Weapons of Mass Destruction Reportedly Found in Iraq
WMD Found In Iraq Twice This Month
Duelfer: 'A lot of material left Iraq and went to Syria'
Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms
The Russians Took Iraq's WMDs
Where Did The WMDs Go?
...So I'm not counting on anything to be done about this news yet. Considering the ample amount of advanced notice Saddam had prior to the liberation of Iraq, it is certainly reasonable to suspect that WMDs were effectively hidden in Iraq and/or moved out of the country, particularly to Syria... Why nothing has been done to prove or disprove the 'WMDs were moved to Syria' theory is beyond me..."
