Given the latest lame attempts to explain the "missing" WMD, this can't be said often enough: If WMD were transferred from Iraq to Syria, it's BushCo's fault.
After all, we had the technology to discover and prevent it:
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon says it has vastly improved its ability to sort, assess and organize the information from spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and other sensors. It relays that data quickly to analysts and commanders around the globe.And we weren't alone, either...satellites from many other countries were watching Iraq very closely, well before the war started:
A profusion of both spy and commercial satellites in the last several years virtually guarantees that nothing done in the open can remain a secret for long. Some satellites boast technology that allows them to clearly see objects as small as 2 feet.And thanks to a tip from Donald Rumsfeld, we even knew precisely where to look for the WMD:
Spy satellites, photo-reconnaissance aircraft, and Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles are scouring the area between Baghdad and Tikrit.This inside information should've enabled us to ensure that nothing could slip through the net, not even a truck convoy carrying hundreds of tons of nerve gas through the open desert:
American spy satellites scanning key targets throughout Iraq at least once every two hours in a concentrated surveillance operation which can pick out objects as small as six inches across in daylight and two to three feet wide at night....The giant craft orbit over Iraq at regular, predictable intervals, snapping high-resolution digital pictures of "sites of military interest" and providing the Pentagon and the CIA with continually updated records of major ground and air activity.In short, if Saddam moved those weapons to another country under our nose, it was perhaps BushCo's single greatest intelligence failure, and is arguably far worse than simply being mistaken about the presence of WMD.
Personally, I'd rather plead guilty to being wrong about the WMD than to letting Saddam's henchmen waltz off with tons of them through one of the most carefully surveilled regions of the world. But chacun รก son gout, as they say in France.
If you want a more detailed, technical account of the intensive pre-war surveillance of Iraq's weapons facilities, you can go here.
3 comments:
The reason the spy cameras didn't see anything is that there wasn't anything to see. We have not only the lack of spy camera evidence of movement, but also the plentiful evidence on the ground and testimony of the people involved that there was nothing to be transported. Plenty of evidence from multiple sources and angles, which is why there's a clear-cut case that there is no "there" there. Those that shill for the maladministration (such as Bill Safire) simply ignore this. Which is basically a form of lying.
Man, you know you've spent too much time online when you see this phrase...
the Pentagon says it has vastly improved its ability to sort, assessAnd think at first that it said "sort asses," which I thought was kinda unnecessary effort on the part of the Pentagon. After all, they've been at that sort of thing for a good 50 years now, at least.
Hope all is going well with you, Phila.
Hi LJ,
I'm doing OK, thanks. I've been in a very grim frame of mind the past few days, but I just went to see Marilynne Robinson speak and was greatly cheered by her...so much so that I'm not even embarassed by my stammering, halting attempt at talking to her afterwards.
Bought a heater for the bedroom, too, which means I won't wake up with my eyebrows covered in rime tomorrow morning. Things could be worse!
You're well, I hope? Haven't heard from you much lately...
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