It is clear that 20/20 hindsight applies to monday morning quarterbacking.
And how is the issue related to WMDs in Iraq any different?
Look.. we have two teams (sides). One of them is going to win, and one of them is going to lose. Right?
So before the game begins, I size up the stats and attempt to make a prediction as to which team is going to win.
So let's say that I've done all of my research, read all the stats I can, even made phone calls to the team doctor to determine which players might not be at 100%, and come to the conclusion that my team is going to perform as expected...
And here you come, showing no research.. Only citing wishy-washy comments from various sports analysts as to why my team will lose, based upon no facts, stats, evidence, or even credible opinions. And some of the opinions are even flying in the face of established reality and historical fact...
And yet you make your prediction based solely upon that, regardless of the stats being in my favor...
But I'm wrong.. and my team seems to be losing at 1/2 time (because the game is definitely still in play as we speak in Iraq).
And you come out here and tell me that all my stats and evidence are completely wrong and that you KNEW FOR A FACT that my team was going to lose.. But you refuse to present your own stats and evidence to substantiate your opinion.
Well, I call that 20/20 hindsight X... Because YOU COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN who would win or lose because you can't even cite any credible facts to support your perspective.
In the case of WMDs, and Blix's opinion (which you cited) EVEN HE could not reliably make such assertions in the face of the report that his team released on March 3, 2003.
There are 6,500 hundred CW warheads missing that Iraq cannot, and has taken no effort to, account for. There are 500 155mm artillery shells, packed with STILL VIABLE mustard agent that have not been accounted for.
We found evidence that Iraq was STILL involved in long-range missile research.
And only after the war, and David Kay's initial reports, we discovered that many of its WMD scientists were STILL employed DIRECTLY by Saddam Hussein, to continue their biological, and chemical research.
And only after the war did we discover the incredible corruption that surrounded the UN oil for food program.
So excuse me if I accuse you of applying 20/20 hindsight on ONLY ONE ISSUE, the missing stockpiles of WMDs that we expected to find and which remain unaccounted for to this day.
Just because we can find them doesn't mean they don't, or didn't exist.. Because clearly the Iraqis, with their extensive paper trail they've left behind, assumed they did.
Even their own SRG generals believed they existed.. A clear violation of the cease fire accord...
It all might have been a clever ploy on Saddam's part to create the impression amongst his own people that he still possessed them. But that's EXACTLY the kind of behavior the UNSC resolutions were SUPPOSED TO ELIMINATE. There could be NO RESTORATION of international peace and security so long as the world was led to believe he still possessed WMD capability.
Hawk |
