Rebels vow to use chemical weapons

[Roland99]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11247879%255E2703,00.html

AS the US reeled from the death of nine marines in Iraq at the weekend, insurgents in Fallujah claimed to have obtained chemical weapons and threatened to use them in any battle for control of the rebel stronghold.

Rebel commanders said chemicals such as cyanide had been added to mortar rounds and missiles that would be deployed against coalition troops reported to be preparing for a major assault on the town west of Baghdad.

A military committee made up of former officers in Saddam Hussein's army, including experts on chemicals and guerrilla warfare, is said to have been organising forces in Fallujah and planning tactics.

The committee is understood to include members of all the main insurgent groups, including that of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader behind the beheading of several foreign hostages and a string of car-bomb attacks.


And the right-wingers will be saying this is proof that Saddam had WMDs in 3...2....1.....

[jkupski]

1. Saddam DID have WMDs.

That point isn't debatable--he used them in the past.

The real question is whether or not Saddam's possession of WMDs was a reasonable excuse for war. Hammering on the "No WMDs" point only makes it easier for people to dismiss your argument when the news talks about some "mobile weapons lab" or ten year old artillery shell.

Over eleven hundred US troops killed in action, almost nine thousand wounded in action, the squandering of the VAST amount of international support and goodwill generated by 9/11, and a cost of at least $150 billion dollars (or more, depending on whose numbers you go with) all to remove a guy that was contained in his own little sandbox and no real threat to anyone other than those unfortunate enough to live within Iraq? That's the real point that needs to be repeated.

The truly sad thing is that no matter who wins the election, the US will have a significant presence in Iraq for at least the next decade. Having kicked over the anthill and come to this point, we simply can't cut and run. The results of doing so would be even worse than having gone in the first place.