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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (51669)10/14/2002 3:03:11 AM
From: Bilow  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 281500
 
Hi Nadine Carroll; Re: "Oh really? and which paper was it that printed all those reports? and now the officer corps agrees on the threat of Saddam Hussein? so please explain to us, were the first reports wrong or exaggerated, or did the officer corps change its mind at some point, or is this simply the authors' declaration of independence from the Raines party line?"

It's not incompatible to agree that Iraq is a threat, as far as WMDs go, but to simultaneously oppose war with Iraq. That position would be supported by the CIA's recent testimony. And if you use "WMD" to describe some of the less fearsome stuff that any high school chemistry student could make in a beaker, it's definitely the case that anyone would agree that Iraq could possess them.

One of the gases most feared in WW1 was Phosgene:
worldwar1.com

Phosgene is used in the plastics industry (which runs off of oil, which Iraq produces in volumes). Every now and then, it leaks out and kills people. For example:

Thai Phosgene Gas Leak Kills as Hospital Cases Rise
Phairath Khampha, March 16, 2000
After being directly exposed to the gas, Phongphithak was critically ill suffering from pulmonary oedema and coughing blood. He was pronounced dead about 1 a.m. March 8 at Rayong's Bamrungrat Hospital. Doctors said he died of respiratory failure.
probeeconomics.com

The fact is that the world is a nastily dangerous place, and WMDs, or the components of WMDs, are omnipresent.

-- Carl