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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerrel Peters who wrote (401710)	5/1/2003 10:16:37 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

AWOL BUSH, Deserter with a Silver Foot in His Mouth: thenation.com It's shocking that a guy who was AWOL for 14 months could have the cojones to use the Abraham Lincoln as a backdrop for his deceits. Shocking and sick. BTW, did you catch the Comedy Central Bush v. Bush debate? It's a one finger salute aimed at the one thing George Bush absolutely cannot stand. The Truth: comedycentral.com

To: Jerrel Peters who wrote (401710)	5/1/2003 11:39:34 PM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 769670

Where is the feared Iraqi arsenal? msnbc.com By Andrea Mitchell NBC NEWS May 1 — When Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations in February — arguing that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime had chemical and biological weapons, illegal missiles, a nuclear weapons program and a working relationship with al-Qaida — he put his reputation on the line. Now, three months later, NBC News decided to take a second look at the Bush administration’s case. “EVERY STATEMENT I make today are backed up by sources, solid sources,” Powell said. “These are not assertions.” For example, Powell showed a May 2002 satellite picture of an alleged chemical facility. “We have a human source who has corroborated that movement of chemical weapons occurred at this site at that time,” Powell said before the world body. Another picture revealed Iraq had bulldozed the complex two months later. With the combat phase of the war now over, U.S. search teams have finally visited the site, several times. So far there is no evidence of weapons of mass destruction — there or anywhere in Iraq. Powell also played audiotapes of Iraqi scientists and quoted them as talking about hiding nerve agents. He claimed Saddam even had mobile biological laboratories. “In fact, they can produce enough dry biological agent in a single month to kill thousands,” he said. ONE HOPEFUL LEAD Since the war, there have been several false alarms but only one promising lead: a truck that may have contained growth medium for biological agent. Growth medium is material that can also be used for peaceful purposes. The secretary of state also argued that Iraq had “a few dozen” Scud missiles. None was used during the war. None has been found since. What about the U.S. charge that Iraq tried to buy aluminum tubes to help make a nuclear bomb? U.N. weapons inspectors said the tubes were not suspicious. Powell said they were. But if there was evidence, it may have gone up in smoke. On March 27, the Iraqi ministry in charge of buying the tubes was looted and torched. And finally, regarding terrorism, Powell told the United Nations that Saddam was harboring an al-Qaida cell in Baghdad. The head of that network, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, is still at large. One of his associates was arrested this week, but so far, no one with any direct connection to Osama bin Laden. EXAGGERATION? Was Powell exaggerating at the United Nations? Was the intelligence wrong or, given the size of Iraq, is it too soon to expect results? “This material could be located at commercial facilities,” said Amy Smithson, a weapons expert. “It could be located under the sand.” How will the United States ever find the truth? The military has rounded up the heads of all of Saddam’s weapons programs. Powell said he is getting useful intelligence. “I’m getting almost daily reports,” he said. “There are little nuggets that are coming out with respect to what was done, what was destroyed.” What about their most promising lead — that truck with possible growth medium for biological agent? “Is that a smoking gun? Well, it is certainly part of a smoking-gun process,” said David Kay, an NBC News analyst and a former U.N. weapons inspector. “But some people will not be happy unless you actually find a fully loaded biological weapon.” Powell has continued to say the case against Iraq is solid. “Everything we had there had backup and double-sourcing and triple-sourcing,” he said. Even experts who have said weapons will be found say it has to happen soon. “The longer we go without that definitive proof, I think, the credibility does become an issue,” Smithson said. Most Americans say they’re satisfied the war was worth it, but Powell knows that the administration’s credibility is at stake around the world.