Desperately seeking WMDs

This is pretty pathetic. We've gone from claiming "hundreds of tons" of chemical and biological agents, to dismantling a so-called mobile lab fervently hoping to find a molecule or two of the stuff.

[Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence] Cambone said that experts had done initial tests on a trailer taken into custody April 19 at a Kurdish checkpoint in northern Iraq but said more substantial testing is required.

Cambone said the surface of it was washed with a caustic material and it likely would have to be dismantled before testing can be done on hard-to-reach surfaces.

In other words, their initial tests came up with nothing. But what the heck -- announce the find. Make a big deal about how this justifies the war and its thousands dead and $80 billion (and counting), and then meekly admit, on page 37, that perhaps they jumped the gun (again). Indeed, Cambone already admits that some of the equipment on the truck could be "used for purposes other than biological weapons agent production".

This is tiring. Why not shut their trap until they confirm the recent presence of banned substances? Because these leaks serve to advance the administration's lies regarding the justification for war.

Notice how it wasn't a general making the announcement, it was a Pentagon civilian political appointee. 'nuff said.

Posted May 08, 2003 12:42 PM | Comments (124)