Nothing to See Here, Move On...

While the civilized world wallowed in pre-election rhetoric and imagery of Brett Favre's turgid member, noted anti-war Web site Wikileaks actually uncovered the long-missing evidence of Iraq's drive to produce chemical and biological weapons, thereby in one moment justifying the entire last decade of warfare.

The details, as documented by Wired's Danger Room blog, detail copious classified findings of chemical and biological stockpiles, as well as the means and plans for more.

In August 2004, for instance, American forces surreptitiously purchased what they believed to be containers of liquid sulfur mustard, a toxic “blister agent” used as a chemical weapon since World War I. The troops tested the liquid, and “reported two positive results for blister.” The chemical was then “triple-sealed and transported to a secure site” outside their base.

Three months later, in northern Iraq, U.S. scouts went to look in on a “chemical weapons” complex. “One of the bunkers has been tampered with,” they write. “The integrity of the seal [around the complex] appears intact, but it seems someone is interesting in trying to get into the bunkers.”

Meanwhile, the second battle of Fallujah was raging in Anbar province. In the southeastern corner of the city, American forces came across a “house with a chemical lab … substances found are similar to ones (in lesser quantities located a previous chemical lab.” The following day, there’s a call in another part of the city for explosive experts to dispose of a “chemical cache.”

Nearly three years later, American troops were still finding WMD in the region. An armored Buffalo vehicle unearthed a cache of artillery shells “that was covered by sacks and leaves under an Iraqi Community Watch checkpoint. “The 155mm rounds are filled with an unknown liquid, and several of which are leaking a black tar-like substance.” Initial tests were inconclusive. But later, “the rounds tested positive for mustard.”

If you were among those who cried "Bush lied, people died" or voted for Barack Obama, I will allow you the next moment to officially apologize and admit how utterly and completely wrong you were.  You may start now.

All set?  Thanks.

To this humble observer of world affairs, it always felt extremely unlikely that a regime so hell-bent on conquest and the torture of innocent civilians would not also dabble in the acquisition of big-ticket weaponry.  When factoring in the dilly-dallying and hand wringing perpetrated by the United Nations in the months and years leading up to the second Iraq War, Saddam Hussein and his henchmen were given ample opportunity to ship any WMD out to places such as Syria by the truckload, or even merely to just pour the vials of toxins into the desert sand, never to be seen again.  That our nation's brave dissenting party at the time could not wrap themselves in similar logic is a sad tale indeed, but then again, it's also par for the course for an ideology that also believes that rampant taxation and profligate spending are the keys to ending a full-on recession.  That the story is further steeped in the the delicious irony that anti-war Julian Assange provided the details makes it all the more sweet.

Look, war is hell.  No sane or rational human being willfully or enthusiastically takes up the risk of life and liberty that flow from combat or treats the decision lightly.  I regret and abhor the loss of any and all lives that were lost by our troops in the conflict, and will forever remember and honor their sacrifices.  Make no mistake, though: history will show the war was a just one, and I do not regret or reneg upon my support of it -- and President George W. Bush -- throughout the '00s.

Links:
WikiLeaks Show WMD Hunt Continued in Iraq – With Surprising Results (Wired)
Imagine That: Wikileaks Docs Show There Were WMDs in Iraq (Bizzy Blog)
WikiLeaks Reveals Troops Did Find Some WMD In Iraq (Ace of Spades HQ)

Comments

[teejaycee]

doesnt that make assange just pro-truth?