June 08, 2005
How Many More Lies?
"All weapons -- biological, chemical, missile, nuclear, were destroyed." -- Hussein Kamel, 1995
UNSCOM's executive chairman Rolf Ekeus reported to the Security Council on 11 April 1997 that "not much is unknown about Iraq's retained proscribed weapons capabilities" (para. 46). The long-term monitoring of Iraqi sites was largely unobstructed: "Iraq has sustained a good level of cooperation in the operation of the monitoring system" (report by UNSCOM’s executive chairman, 11 October 1996, para. 61; similar statements made in subsequent reports). In its October 1997 report, UNSCOM stated that "the majority of [weapons] inspections were conducted in Iraq without let or hindrance" (Annex I, para. 33). Even up to its final inspection report on 15 December 1998, UNSCOM was recording how "the majority of the inspections of facilities and sites under the ongoing monitoring system were carried out with Iraq’s cooperation." Non-cooperation was recorded in only five out of 427 inspections in the round before inspectors were withdrawn on the request of the US; those five instances resulted in minor delays, not inspection refusals.
"At this stage, the following can be stated:
"One, there is no indication of resumed nuclear activities in those buildings that were identified through the use of satellite imagery as being reconstructed or newly erected since 1998, nor any indication of nuclear-related prohibited activities at any inspected sites.
"Second, there is no indication that Iraq has attempted to import uranium since 1990.
"Third, there is no indication that Iraq has attempted to import aluminium tubes for use in centrifuge enrichment. Moreover, even had Iraq pursued such a plan, it would have encountered practical difficulties in manufacturing centrifuges out of the aluminium tubes in question.
"Fourth, although we are still reviewing issues related to magnets and magnet production, there is no indication to date that Iraq imported magnets for use in a centrifuge enrichment programme." -- Mohamed ElBaradei; March 7, 2003
"Inspections in Iraq resumed on 27 November 2002. In matters relating to process, notably prompt access to sites, we have faced relatively few difficulties and certainly much less than those that were faced by UNSCOM in the period 1991 to 1998. This may well be due to the strong outside pressure. [...]
"Initial difficulties raised by the Iraqi side about helicopters and aerial surveillance planes operating in the no-fly zones were overcome.
"This is not to say that the operation of inspections is free from frictions, but at this juncture we are able to perform professional no-notice inspections all over Iraq and to increase aerial surveillance. [...]
"Several inspections have taken place at declared and undeclared sites in relation to mobile production facilities. Food testing mobile laboratories and mobile workshops have been seen, as well as large containers with seed processing equipment. No evidence of proscribed activities have so far been found. [...]
"During inspections of declared or undeclared facilities, inspection teams have examined building structures for any possible underground facilities. In addition, ground penetrating radar equipment was used in several specific locations. No underground facilities for chemical or biological production or storage were found so far. [...]
"While during our meetings in Baghdad, the Iraqi side tried to persuade us that the Al Samoud 2 missiles they have declared fall within the permissible range set by the Security Council, the calculations of an international panel of experts led us to the opposite conclusion.
"Iraq has since accepted that these missiles and associated items be destroyed and has started the process of destruction under our supervision. The destruction undertaken constitutes a substantial measure of disarmament -- indeed, the first since the middle of the 1990s. We are not watching the breaking of toothpicks. Lethal weapons are being destroyed. [...]
"There is a significant Iraqi effort underway to clarify a major source of uncertainty as to the quantities of biological and chemical weapons, which were unilaterally destroyed in 1991. [...]
"How much time would it take to resolve the key remaining disarmament tasks? While cooperation can and is to be immediate, disarmament and at any rate the verification of it cannot be instant. Even with a proactive Iraqi attitude, induced by continued outside pressure, it would still take some time to verify sites and items, analyse documents, interview relevant persons, and draw conclusions. It would not take years, nor weeks, but months. -- Hans Blix; March 7, 2003
"The larger point is and the fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in and he wouldn't let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region." -- George W. Bush; July 14, 2003
"Since the liberation of Iraq, we have discovered Saddam's clandestine network of biological laboratories, the design work on prohibited long-range missiles, his elaborate campaign to hide illegal weapons programs. Saddam Hussein spent years frustrating UN inspections, for a simple reason -- because he was violating UN demands. And in the end, rather than surrender his programs and abandon his lies, he chose defiance, and his own undoing." -- George W. Bush; October 23, 2003
"We gave Saddam Hussein plenty of time to heed the demands of the world, and he chose defiance. He did. He said, 'Forget it. I don't care what the United Nations has said over a decade. I don't care about all the resolutions passed.' He chose defiance; we acted." -- George W. Bush; December 15, 2003
"And then we went to the United Nations, of course, and got an overwhelming resolution -- 1441 -- unanimous resolution, that said to Saddam, 'You must disclose and destroy your weapons programs,' which obviously meant the world felt he had such programs. He chose defiance. It was his choice to make, and he did not let us in." -- George W. Bush; January 27, 2004
"War was President Bush's last option. That's why he exhausted diplomatic options, to include giving Saddam Hussein one more warning, and yet another UN resolution. Given this final chance, Saddam chose defiance, and he chose war." -- "Ask The White House"; February 6, 2004
"The United States and the world still hoped for a peaceful solution -- and Saddam Hussein faced a choice: to show that he was meeting his international obligations to disarm, or to continue his defiance. He chose unwisely. [...]
"We may never know why Saddam Hussein chose the destruction of his regime over peaceful disarmament. But we know this: it was his choice. And if he had chosen differently -- if the Iraqi regime had taken the steps Libya is now taking -- there would have been no war." -- Donald H. Rumsfeld; February 7, 2004
"In 2002, the United Nations Security Council yet again demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs. As he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply. So we had a choice to make: either take the word of a madman, or take action to defend America and the world. Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time. [APPLAUSE]" -- George W. Bush; February 24, 2004
DR. RICE: "Sooner or later, Tim, the international community had to mean what it said about Saddam Hussein. When it said that it could no longer tolerate his defiance and he had one last chance to disarm or be disarmed, he chose defiance. And the president fulfilled the obligation that he had given to the international community when he went to the UN in September of 2002 and said, 'If he will not comply with his obligations, then he has to go.'"
MR. RUSSERT: "But having not found the kind of stockpiles of chemical and biological and potential nuclear that we thought he had, you have no second thoughts that the war was not necessary?"
DR. RICE: "Absolutely not. Because Saddam Hussein had been a threat for 12 years, ever since he invaded Kuwait and set the Middle East on a course of instability. Somebody had to take care of Saddam Hussein and set the Middle East on a different course. This president is not confused about this point." -- "Meet The Press"; August 8, 2004
"The president of the United States, in a very public way, reached out to people across the world, went to the United Nations and tried to resolve this in a diplomatic manner. Saddam Hussein was the one, in the end, who chose continued defiance. And only then was the decision made, as a last resort, to go into Iraq." -- Scott McClellan; May 17, 2005
"And so we worked hard to see if we could figure how to do this peacefully, to put a united front up to Saddam Hussein, so the world speaks. And he ignored the world. Remember, 1441 passed the Security Council unanimously. He made the decision." -- George W. Bush; June 7, 2005
"And the fact is, we decided to go to the United Nations and went through that process, which resulted in the November 2002 United Nations resolution to give a final chance to Saddam Hussein to comply with international law. He didn't do so. And that was the reason why we had to take military action." -- Tony "I have never told a lie" Blair; June 7, 2005
So, how many more lies? Well, as long as the liars can get away with lying, they've no reason to stop doing so. Isn't there someone, anyone, in the mainstream media who will challenge the repeated assertions of Saddam's "defiance"? (Not that it'd make any difference, considering that a hefty chunk of the American public believes that WMD were found in Iraq. But it'd still be interesting to see the reaction.)
Posted by Eddie Tews at June 8, 2005 02:00 PM
Comments
I love this post. It shows just how absolutely calculated and coordinated the lies are. When taken as a whole, all those quotes paint a picture of a sinister scheme to fabricate and reinforce a fiction through sheer repetition! You don't get any more Big-Brother than that! -- Posted by: Disco Stu on June 23, 2005 05:31 PM