Powell's chemical weapons factory

[nicky g]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/2741003.stm

What I don't get is that this alleged WMD factory is in Kurdish territory that's acknowledged by everybdy to be outside the control of the Baghdad regime. So even if it is producing chemical weapons, which looks distinctly unlikely, how on earth could it be considered a breach of the resolution? By the way,a if Clinton was right and that Sudanese medicine factory he blew up during the Lewinsky scandal was in fact producing chemical weapons, why is the US not going to war with Sudan?

[Jimbo]

I particularly enjoyed these two short excerpts from your article:

But they saw no obvious evidence of chemical weapons production. Imagine that! They did not forget to hide the pot before they invited the cops to stop by. Only on TV do the criminals invite the police indoors without a warrant to catch them in a criminal activity.

The Ansar commanders themselves also denied Mr Powell's accusations that they have links with al-Qaeda or the Baghdad government. Well I guess that settles it. I am sure our armed forces are on their way home now that this testy little matter is cleared up.

[MMMMMM]

"By the way,a if Clinton was right and that Sudanese medicine factory he blew up during the Lewinsky scandal was in fact producing chemical weapons, why is the US not going to war with Sudan?"

Maybe because:

Saddam called for jihad against the USA and Israel?

Saddam tried to have George Bush Sr. assassinated?

Saddam is funding the Palestinian suicide bomber cottage industry?

Saddam has attacked his neighbors?

Saddam has used his WMD on neighbors and citizens?

Iraq is a lot more dangerous to us than Sudan?

Saddam once torched the oilfields and if he is allowed to continue his WMD programs, what would stop him from blackmailing the world eventually by threatening to nuke or destroy the oilfields?

Saddam is giving/selling biological WMD to terrorists who intend to attack Europe, Israel and the USA with them?

Maybe because: Sudan isn't?

[nicky g]

All good responses, excpet:
"Saddam is giving/selling biological WMD to terrorists who intend to attack Europe, Israel and the USA with them? "

No. He isn't. Maybe one day he will. But he isn't.

[nicky g]

Tha's not really my point; I asked why, when the so-called chemical weapons factory is not in Saddam-controlled Iraq, its existence could put Iraq in breach of the resolution. It would be an argument for going to war in Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq, rather than Baghdad. Similarly, other alleged al-Qaida figureheads that Saddam has allegedly been sheltering are in fact in Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq.

[MMMMMM]

And just how could you know this?

Saddam recently provided missiles to Hizbollah (the conventional type)--and Hizbollah has promised to enlarge their armed struggle against Israel to include the United States. By the way, Hizbollah is considered by some analysts to be better trained and potentially more dangerous than al-Qaeda. Hizbollah is also apparently planning major attacks on Israel close to the start of the war with Iraq.

[nicky g]

And just how could you know this?

I'm an Iraqi/Ansar/MI6 triple agent, of course [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]. Seriously, cos that's what everyone's being saying, including the Bush and Blair administration. They've been complaing about al-Qaida figures staying with Ansar, who are based in Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq. The only person who's supposed to have been in Saddam-controlled Iraq is the Al-Qaida guy who had medical treatment in Baghdad, whatshisname, and he didn't hang around.

How on earth did Saddam get missiles to Hezbollah? I find that very hard to swallow. Hezbollah get all they need from Syria and Iran, surely they're the people to target if we're worried about Hezbollah's threat. They're shias so i can't really see them getting involved with al-Qaida or Saddam, but who knows.
Regarding the Ansar group in Kurdistan, their feud with the main Kurdsh factions is cos the Kurds are secular with a Marxist-bent, and Ansar want to establish sharia law. How cooperating with a secular Stalin known for persecuting religious groups and whose overthrow is one of their main stated aims would help that cause, I cannot imagine. If they at least made a case for Ansar links to Baghdad they'd have a point, but so far they've just conveniently ignored the fact that that part of Iraq isn't run by Saddam. Maybe there are links, but they haven't made that case.

MMMMMM, I ask again, why in all honesty do you believe that there are strong links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida when our own intelligence agencies repeatedly say that there aren't?

[MMMMMM]

Saddam supplied Syria too with missiles.

One common thread you will likely find is that while Arab/Muslim countries fight a lot amongst themselves, they still view themselves as brothers as compared to the infidel West. Thus there is a common bond and a common enemy in a sense. So, as the confrontations between the Islamists and the West continue to sharpen, we can expect to see even some former Arab/Muslim enemies uniting against what is perceived as a common foe.

I believe there are links between al Qaeda and Iraq and that our intelligence sources say these links have existed over time--and have recently been growing.

When the smoke clears in Iraq I'll bet a lot of previously disputed issues will become clear too--such as the existence of Saddam's current WMD's, and possibly more of his links to terrorist groups will come to light as well.

I'm not saying he is giving these groups blank checks or is totally in bed with them (although he pretty much is giving the suicide-bombing industry a blank check)--I'm just saying there are relationships between these groups and Iraq and that Iraq has been making deals with them to some extent (though probably not very extensively as of yet). I also wouldn't be entirely surprised to learn later that the claim in the DEBKAfile article is true--that there is a secret al Qaeda camp 150 km north of Baghdad where they are involved with Iraqis training in the use of WMD, although this bold claim raises my eyebrows too.