A stupid argument

I've heard this example given too many times, now, and it is just too stupid for words. Here's Casper Weinberger's version of it.

That we have not yet located huge deposits of weapons of mass destruction does not mean they do not or did not exist. After all, we have not yet found Saddam Hussein or his remains--but not even Democratic presidential candidates or the New York Times contend that he did not exist.

Ok, now, think about that for a moment. There are at least two serious problems with this logic. First and foremost, we have evidence that, as of 2003, both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein existed. Secondly, hiding a person is much different (and considerably easier) than hiding enough biological or chemical weaponry to be a serious threat threat to the world.

In the last year or so, we've seen Saddam and Osama on tapes and heard their voices. We may not know where they are, precisely (or even generally, for that matter), but we have current evidence that they do, in fact, exist. If the last time anyone had seen or heard from either of these men was 1998, it's pretty likely that more than a few people would be questioning if they were even still alive for us to find. And if people were saying "well, we know they were alive in 1991, and we have some information indicating they were probably still alive in 1998, but it's maybe a bit shakey and there hadn't been any contact with either of them in the last 5 years," well, most people would probably skip the "I wonder...." stage and go straight to the "You know, they're probably dead by now" stage.

Similarly, when it comes to hiding things, it's a lot easier to hide a person than it is to hide thousands of gallons of biological or chemical agents for use in weaponry. It's also easier to hide a person than it is to hide a Scud missle or 10. Just by the quanitity of what Bush said that Iraq had, it would have had a very difficult time trying to hide all traces of it. Saddam and Osama, on the other hand, just need a room in an out of the way house, or a cave in the midst of a mountain range.

I just wish conservatives would give up on this tired old saw, it doesn't make for any kind of serious discussion, and it doesn't make any real sense.

Posted by thorswitch at July 21, 2003 07:50 AM | TrackBack