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August 31, 2003

A way to start proving the weapons claim

Colbert King, columnist for the Washington Post, writes in his column this week that he wants Colin Powell to start providing the proof for his claims of a threat from Iraq, in particular, those claims made during his February 5th UN presentation. He also offers a short list of things Powell could arrage for the public to have access to, as a way to start offering this proof:

Am I now off the reservation? Not yet. But if at the moment Powell can't put his hands on those weapons, it sure would be helpful if he and his administration colleagues produced for public viewing the sources of his vaunted intelligence on making the case for a U.S.-British preemptive strike. For starters, I have in mind:

• Proof that Hussein's late son, Qusay, issued an order directing the removal of all prohibited weapons from Hussein's palaces.



• Evidence that Hussein directly participated in efforts to prevent interviews with Iraqi scientists.



• Public appearances by:
  • first, the Iraqi chemical engineer who allegedly witnessed a biological agent production run and saw an accident at a production site in 1998;
  
  
  
  • second, the Iraqi civil engineer knowledgeable about the biological agent program who confirmed the existence of transportable facilities moving in trailers;
  
  
  
  • third, the human source who corroborated the movement of chemical weapons in May 2002;
  
  
  
  • fourth, the eyewitness who saw prisoners being experimented on to perfect biological or chemical weapons;
  
  
  
  • fifth, the sources that said a missile brigade outside Baghdad was disbursing warheads containing biological warfare agents to various locations in western Iraq.

Whatever the circumstances at the time, those sources have nothing to fear from Hussein today. Produce them.

I, of course, would like to see more than just that, but that would be a good start. I would prefer that they actually find and show us some of the physical weapons of mass destruction they so solomnly swore that Saddam had. Not programs - not plans, not trailers that produce hydrogen for artillery balloons, not pieces of old, dismanteled equipment that have been buried in someone's back yard for a decade or more, not accusations and not speculation - but actual, useable, dangerous weapons.

Posted by thorswitch at August 31, 2003 05:28 PM

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