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Oh, *those* WMD. Sure, there were some of *those*

Okay, that NY Times article about chemical weapons today. Help me out here. They put this together from a bunch of Wikileaks stuff and some FOIA requests. It shows that US soldiers were finding chemical weapons regularly from 2004 and 2011 and some were hurt by them.

And the Times is scolding the government for downplaying the danger and significance of chemical weapons? WTF happened to “Bush lied, people died”? Yeah, they’re describing them as a bunch of old crappy weapons (and of American design, woooo!) but isn’t that entirely in line with what we expected to find and were told we hadn’t? Tens of thousands, by the sound of it.

And why did the military downplay this? Why did the government?

And why is the Times doing a bunch of original reportage on this now? Could it be that ISIS is closing in on this stuff and they want an alibi when the bad guys start lobbing chemical weapons around…?

Comments


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 15, 2014, 9:25 pm

I realize doing the research is my job, but I didn’t have time for more than a glance over the Times article and a WTF?

But, hey, I had my first work anxiety dream last night, so I guess it’s a real job now.


Comment from Sigivald
Time: October 15, 2014, 10:20 pm

I remember reports of “old, decrepit chemical weapons” being found a decade ago.

They were, of course, not reported loudly by the Times, and the Bush Hating People gave the same “it doesn’t count because it’s not a Big Active Program!” excuse they do now.

Nevermind that Bush never talked about a Big Active Program being the justification for invading, of course.


Comment from Anonymous
Time: October 15, 2014, 10:43 pm

It has been known for a decade that there were chemical weapons in Iraq – but that has never slowed the “Bush lied” group. The truth, as was discussed yesterday, simply doesn’t matter to them. Watch for “No True Scotsman” arguments to start popping up on all the Libblogs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2178883/Syrias-chemical-weapons-arsenal.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/oct/28/20041028-122637-6257r/?page=all

Still the magic question is “Why now? And why from the NYT?” Verrrry Innnnteresting!


Comment from JeffS
Time: October 16, 2014, 1:04 am

Sigivald and Anonymous are correct. I recall several news reports of chemical munitions found in Iraq, including while I was on tour in Kuwait, in 2005. The Lame Stream Media just yawned.

Now the NYT is reporting this with a surprised look on their collective face. Fookin’ hypocrites, one and all. Probably trying to distract attention from Obama’s Ebola and D68 virus screw-ups.


Comment from davidt
Time: October 16, 2014, 2:32 am

IS is acquiring the WMD that are in Iraq that weren’t in Iraq during Bush but were in Iraq before Bush, because Bush.


Comment from Rich Rostrom
Time: October 16, 2014, 3:46 am

Various bits of chemical munitions were found in Iraq.

There was enough to show that after Saddam let UNSCOM to destroy most of his chemical arsenal, he still had a lot left. But he apparently got rid of it just before the invasion. There were rumors he shipped it off to Syria.

Does anyone else recall the stash of WMD that was discovered in Washington DC? Really. It was a bunch of WW I mustard gas shells that had been buried in Rock Creek Park about 1920, and forgotten about ever since.


Comment from Christopher Taylor
Time: October 16, 2014, 5:55 pm

The left’s response is “Oh, those don’t count, those aren’t the WMD we meant. They’re old.”


Comment from Christopher Taylor
Time: October 16, 2014, 6:02 pm

And what they’ve found has been pretty extensive. What happened was a lot was buried to keep it safe and hide it; they did the same thing with whole Migs. The idea was that after the war they’d dig this stuff up and be ready to roar right away. Another thing they did was ship things to nearby countries with the presumption they could buy it back (the train of trucks to Syria, which suddenly began using chemical weapons, including a terrorist attack that used stolen ones, after the convoy).


Comment from drew458
Time: October 16, 2014, 6:08 pm

Yes, that old degraded no good poison. It can hardly kill 80% of its victims, unless the fresh stuff which can kill 95%.

5800 shells and bombs worth, so far. But that isn’t a stockpile, even though that many would fill a big warehouse.

You know how a bottle of aspirin has a freshness date? You do know that the aspirin works just fine for at least a decade after that, right?


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: October 16, 2014, 7:40 pm

You know how a bottle of aspirin has a freshness date? You do know that the aspirin works just fine for at least a decade after that, right?

The container of sea salt you bought at the grocery store has a “best by” date on it.

Salt.

& just taking a wild-assed guess based on the chemical structure, I’m betting that mustard gas stored in cool, metal, airtight containers would last at least 100 years or so.


Comment from Anonymously
Time: October 16, 2014, 8:31 pm

Why did the government downplay this information? Short answer: because democrats work in government offices too (not just in the media).

I received FOIA data on WMDs found in Iraq way back in 2011. If you study the information on that report you will notice the military really did not start recovering many WMDs in Iraq until early 2006. But, by that time “Bush lied, people died” had been repeated so many times that it became the truth. And even those who knew better just didn’t want to talk about it anymore. In early 2011 I sent my FOIA information to every conservative news outlet and blogger I thought would be interested and apparently none of them even wanted to bring the subject up again.


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Comment from mojo
Time: October 17, 2014, 11:10 pm

so… If we found ’em in 2004-2008, why are they still there? Anyone? Bueller?


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