We Told You So?

by Robert J. Romano

January 27th, 2006

Picture by Erik Berte and Brian Holt

        Before the war on terror and tyranny was expanded into Iraq in 2003, the overarching conventional wisdom was that Hussein's Iraq retained WMD stockpiles and that these were being hidden from the United Nations and the international community, and this view was shared by all of the world's major intelligence agencies, including the U.S., UK, France, Russia, and Germany.  And after the liberation of Iraq by the coalition of the willing, the conventional wisdom shifted and it became believed by many that Iraq did not retain the WMD, and that the frustrated efforts of the coalition and the Iraq Survey Group to locate the WMD inside of Iraq was one of the greatest intelligence failures ever, that the war was a mistake, and even in some quarters that the intelligence had been concocted.  Of course, some of the more militant opponents to the war who insist that this theatre in the war on terror is based on a lie never could quite explain how it was the President of the United States managed to get all of these intelligence agencies to "cook up" the proof, while conservative critics complained that the shenanigans at the UN Security Council had given Hussein's regime the time it needed to spirit away the WMD and that the failure to find the WMD in Iraq did not disprove the claims of the intelligence agencies. 

        Previously, here at The Federal Republican, this author had opined on an open question, "So, Just Where Are Those Weapons?" To date, it remains a fact that the unaccounted for WMD which the UN had confirmed Iraq had before the war was expanded into that nation have still not been fully accounted for.  According to then U.S. Chief Weapons Inspector, Dr. David Kay, in testifying to Congress on October 2nd, 2003, that the unaccounted for stockpiles are relatively small, and "[i]t is important to keep in mind that even the bulkiest materials we are searching for, in the quantities we would expect to find, can be concealed in spaces not much larger than a two car garage..." Dr. Kay also confirmed that the Iraq Survey Group had discovered "dozens of WMD-related program activities concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002.  The discovery of these deliberate concealment efforts have come about both through the admissions of Iraqi scientists and officials concerning information they deliberately withheld and through physical evidence of equipment and activities that ISG has discovered that should have been declared to the UN."

        Despite evidence that Hussein's regime had again defied the international community, and that Iraq had retained the strategic ability and intent to fully reconstitute its WMD programs with fervor if and when sanctions could be lifted, critics of the war were not deterred.  Dr. Kay's testimony was later elaborated on by the full report of the Iraq Survey Group: "Saddam [Hussein] so dominated the Iraqi Regime that its strategic intent was his alone. He wanted to end sanctions while preserving the capability to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) when sanctions were lifted... Saddam wanted to recreate Iraq’s WMD capability—which was essentially destroyed in 1991—after sanctions were removed and Iraq’s economy stabilized, but probably with a different mix of capabilities to that which previously existed. Saddam aspired to develop a nuclear capability—in an incremental fashion, irrespective of international pressure and the resulting economic risks—but he intended to focus on ballistic missile and tactical chemical warfare (CW) capabilities..."

        By this time, hope of finding the WMD inside Iraq appeared to be all but lost, though the Iraq Survey Group, in Dr. Charles Duelfer's testimony on October 6th, 2004, acknowledged the possibility that the unaccounted for WMD may have been spirited away: "A variety of questions about Iraqi WMD capabilities and intentions remain unanswered, even after extensive investigation by ISG.  For example, we cannot yet definitively say whether or not WMD materials were transferred out of Iraq before the war.  Neither can we definitively answer some questions about possible retained stocks..." Though President Bush later stated that much of the intelligence was wrong, it appears that after all, it may have been right.

        On January 26th, 2006, The New York Sun reported that one of Iraq's top generals under the Hussein regime has confirmed Israeli claims that Iraq had spirited the unaccounted for WMD to Syria.  On December 23rd, 2002, then Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon stated,"Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria." In his interview with The New York Sun, former General Georges Sada stated, "There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands... I am confident they were taken over." General Sada's story is based on the remarkable tales of the pilots of two airliners who were apparently responsible for moving the WMD inside passenger jets which had had their seats removed, totally 56 flights in all.  Also, on the January 26th Sean Hannity Show, the General also confirmed that WMD had been moved via tractor trailers in the days before the war, which confirms previous reports to that effect.  This seems to in part confirm the January 5th, 2005 disclosure to a Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, which detailed that the unaccounted for WMD were hidden in three specific locations inside of Syria inasmuch as it supports the claim that the unaccounted for WMD were indeed moved into Syria.  These revelations would certainly land the Syrian regime, already under international pressure for its role in the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, its state sponsorship of terrorism, and for allowing insurgents and terrorists to travel into Iraq since 2003, in much hotter water than it already is in.  As before, I believe that the unaccounted for WMD must be accounted for, and that these reports must be investigated thoroughly, as they have significance most importantly to the peace and security of the region, to the historical record, and also importantly to the strategic credibility of the coalition that led the campaign to liberate Iraq.  If Syria does indeed have these weapons, the regime there must certainly disarm them, and also be called to account for their role in aiding Hussein's regime in violating its international obligations pursuant to the ceasefire agreement after the first Gulf War and the subsequent UN Security Council Resolutions.

        Finally, in another revelation, and perhaps the best piece of evidence to date that Iraq did indeed retain WMD, a series of audio recordings which has been given to The Intelligence Summit, chaired by John Loftus, a frequent contributor to the FOX News Channel and WABC's The John Batchelor Show, to be released on February 17th at the summit, confirms the Iraq-WMD connection.  These recordings are of Saddam Hussein himself and top aides discussing the extent of Iraq's WMD plans.  According to Mr. Loftus: "Saddam's secret office recordings continued well into the year 2000. In all, they contain at least 12 hours of totally candid discussions with his senior aides. Clearly, after these tapes have been verified and corroborated, they will be able to provide a few definitive answers to some very important-and controversial-weapons of mass destruction questions." Since then, he has stated on WABC that the National Security Agency has verified positively that the voice on the recordings, which date back many years, is indeed the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

        The most explosive revelations may be yet to come, as more sources come forward to verify these various pieces of evidence that Hussein's regime did indeed deceive the world and had concealed its WMD stockpiles, and partisans and critics of the war who so quickly claimed that the President had "misled" America into war must be called to account as well.  The American people deserve to the know the truth about the depths of Hussein's campaign of denial and deception.  And, at the end of the day, I wouldn't be surprised if we see the President appearing on television with the UK's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, stating, "We told you so."