May 6, 2003
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Ok, this report is lacking on details (like who the official is), but it should be interesting to see if more of these start coming out…
US: ‘Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction’
By Neil Mackay
The Bush administration has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction.
Senior officials in the Bush administration have admitted that they would be ‘amazed’ if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.
According to administration sources, Saddam shut down and destroyed large parts of his WMD programmes before the invasion of Iraq.
Ironically, the claims came as US President George Bush yesterday repeatedly justified the war as necessary to remove Iraq’s chemical and biological arms which posed a direct threat to America.
Bush claimed: ‘Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. We will find them.’
The comments from within the administration will add further weight to attacks on the Blair government by Labour backbenchers that there is no ‘smoking gun’ and that the war against Iraq — which centred on claims that Saddam was a risk to Britain, America and the Middle East because of unconventional weapons — was unjustified.
The senior US official added that America never expected to find a huge arsenal, arguing that the administration was more concerned about the ability of Saddam’s scientists — which he labelled the ‘nuclear mujahidin’ — to develop WMDs when the crisis passed.
This represents a clearly dramatic shift in the definition of the Bush doctrine’s central tenet — the pre-emptive strike. Previously, according to Washington, a pre-emptive war could be waged against a hostile country with WMDs in order to protect American security.
Now, however, according to the US official, pre-emptive action is justified against a nation which simply has the ability to develop unconventional weapons.The amazing thing is it seems like even if this turns out to be the case, most people probably won’t care.
For thought and comment, I forward an email I got from a friend outlining a plan for global peace. Some points I agree strongly with, some I disagree with, and some I need to think about. It is attributed to Robin Williams, but that hasn’t been verfied yet:
1) The US will apologize to the world for our “interference” in their affairs, past & present. We will promise never to “interfere” again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don’t want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No more sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 day visits unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself, don’t hide here. Asylum would not ever be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers.
5) No “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home, baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy, but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else.
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not “interfere.” They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them gets”lost” or is taken by their army. The people who need it most get very little anyway.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an island some place. We don’t need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, it would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
9b) Use the buildings as replacement for the twin towers.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us “Ugly Americans” any longer.
Now, ain’t that a winner of a plan?
“The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, ‘Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.’ She’s got a baseball bat and she’s yelling, ‘You want a piece of me?’”I gotta be responsible and work and stuff, so I’ll comment on these later. I’m interested what everyone else thinks…
