| I wasn’t going to write an article this weekend. I’ve been on retreat this week, trying to feed my spiritual needs. I wanted to leave all the “other stuff” behind, just for a while, to renew my soul. I made one mistake. I watched Fox News Sunday when I got home today. It has to be my favorite news/political show. Maybe it was the peaceful week I had, but I was somewhat surprised to find that the talk was just the same as it was last week: Where are the WMD’s??? And now we hear the democrats claim that President Bush “deliberately mislead” us. Some even prefer to say he “lied”. These are very strong words and accusations. I believe these concerns are extremely premature. If a year had gone by, there might be legitimate concerns and complaints, but it has been weeks, yes, only weeks, since the combat phase of the war has ended. Lord knows the war rages on since we loose the precious lives of our soldiers every day. Now, let me, as some in the media say, “splay it all out” for you. I mentioned much of this in the last article, but since this still seems to be the hot topic and there is still so much buzz about it, here we go again, with some expansion and detail. Some seem to be ignoring important truths and we are going to hit them now. Let’s begin with the fact that the U.N. Security Council asked Saddam to account for WMD’s that were absolutely known to exist. One’s we have proof that he had used in the past. All he needed to do was either turn the weapons over or prove that they had been destroyed. That’s all! He was given an incredibly reasonable amount of time to accomplish that. He chose not to cooperate, so inspectors went in to try and do it for him. Things began nicely; it seemed the Iraqis working with the inspectors were behaving well and quite cooperative. Then things slowly went sour, especially when the al Sammoud missiles were tested and found to fly too far. Now why were the Iraqis so cooperative? They bugged the hotel rooms of the inspectors, and who knows what else – their vehicles possibly. And the inspectors were sometimes careless with their documents, leaving them lying in the seats of the SUV’s where they could be read through the window, or even taken out and put back without an inspector knowing it. (A good car thief can jimmy the door lock through the side of the window and leave not a trace!) So the Iraqi’s knew every move the inspectors were making; where they were going to be and when. This went on for a little over three months. All the while, Saddam was moving everything around. He had the warning time prior to the Inspectors coming in, and the three months they were present in Iraq, to hide the WMD’s. Then, Saddam had insider information, compliments of French President Jacques Chirac. We cannot underestimate how helpful that was to Saddam! And, the actions of the French in the U.N. Security Council bought Saddam even more time, while the U.S. tried to do the “right thing” by going to the U.N. (Something I regrettably supported!) So we see, Saddam did not have a time crunch on that side of the situation. He could go at a leisurely pace to get the WMD’s hidden. President Bush and his Cabinet went over all the intelligence for many months before making the decision to take on Saddam. Secretary of State Colin Powell was, in the beginning, the reluctant warrior, but even he was convinced so much that he gave a brilliant presentation to the Security Council in February. I remember sitting there fixated on the television, shocked at what I heard. Things were much worse than I even imagined. Then we heard the reports of atropine autoinjectors being sent to Iraq in massive amounts. Atropine is the only thing that will slow the neurological consequences of nerve agents. All of our troops carried them into this war. The side that uses them must carry them also, incase of an accidental release of the agents. Why would Iraq spend so much to obtain these injectors if they really didn’t need them? I’m sure they’ve always had stocks of atropine, but like all drugs, they carry an expiration date. The autoinjectors are a recent invention for diabetics and other chronic diseases that require injections. Saddam purchased the latest technology. The allied forces do not use nerve agents in war. I think the purchase of the atropine is quite telling and should be taken seriously. Evidently, our President took it seriously. President Bush takes the Oath of Office quite genuinely. He promised this to us: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Now when there is a great threat to the security of this nation and it’s people, the President of the United States, no matter who he may be, had better do all he can to take care of that threat. Mind you, Saddam had not accounted for much of anything. What would you do in that situation? Would you do what Bill Clinton did, or would you try to stop the threat? If, prior to Allied Forces entering Iraq, Saddam had used or sold his WMD’s to al Qaeda to use on America, who would you be shaking your fist at? President Bush, of course! He can’t win, with some. So, President Bush decided enough was enough. The war happened. We found stock piles of chemical suits and yes, those autoinjectors were found too. We also found mass graves, some filled with bodies only days before the war began. We are still hearing horrifying stories of torture, terror, rape, inhumane imprisonment, and murder. Our forces freed children from prison!!! The truth is - Saddam is responsible for an Islamic holocaust. It is that simple! He has murdered more Muslims that anyone in history. It is approaching 8 weeks since the major combat ended. Our forces, along with the allies, are trying to establish some sort of order and rebuild infrastructure. That is the priority right now. Soldiers are killed nearly every day in this process – not usually by Iraqi’s, but by foreign forces! There has been much sabotage and destruction of the very problems our troops have repaired. Our soldiers also are looking for Saddam (alive or dead) and other Bathe Party members, guarding sacred sites, acting as police, helping move food and water for the Iraqi people, investigating bombed government building for documents, and looking for those WMD’s. I’m sure there’s even more that I don’t realize. That is a great deal to do and to have only completed the 7th week trying to get it done. There are 900 known sites to check for WMD’s. Allied Forces have taken in many in the Deck of 55. We’ve gotten some good intelligence from them, but for the most part, they’ve been pretty quite. They certainly haven’t spilled their guts to us. And why? Is Saddam dead or alive? If there’s a possibility that he is alive, there’s a possibility that he may return to power, or have the power to “take them out” if they talk – just out of pure revenge. These high level Iraqi leaders know better than anyone what Saddam is capable of. A hit to take them out after they talk would be totally expected. Until these people are assured that Saddam is dead, they will stay silent or even mislead us. And can we blame them??? Some say the war ended too quickly! Yes, really, some are saying that. They say we should have been more tough and torn up more to scare the Iraqi’s into submission. Thankfully, this country doesn’t work that way. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam’s general’s sufficient warning and warned the underlings to ignore orders or face the consequences of trial for war crimes. We know that saved the oil wells - for those men admitted it. But those in Baghdad may have heeded the warnings but fear to admit that fact. Remember that building outside Baghdad that had rows and rows of empty warheads lining the floor with stacks to the ceiling in reserve? Was someone ordered to fill them with chemicals and chose not to carry out the order? And were the chemicals that were to go into those warheads the very chemicals and nerve agents detected in the Tigris? The most frightening possibility is that Saddam sent the weapons out of the country. If you read my last article, you know that I do not rule out Iran. And what about those ships? Here is what I stated in the last article: “What about those three cargo ships that left Iraqi waters in November 2002, just after the inspectors reached Baghdad? Those ships were chartered through Egypt and sailed under the flags of three nations. The last media coverage of those ships was on February 20, 2003. The ships had been sailing in international waters for three months maintaining radio silence, which is a direct violation of international maritime law. The ships docked in several nations, mostly ones that support terror, such as Yemen. The majority of their time was spent just off the border of the Indian Ocean. We never heard about them after the war, did we? Did a French or Russian cargo ship come and pick up what ever was on those ships? Was the story of Russian war games with the Indian Navy a cover to get into the area? ”Are the WMD’s still right there in Iraq? There are 900 sites named for inspection and as of last week, only 250 had been checked. Our Troops have been pretty busy trying to keep some order in the country. They don’t have a lot of extra time to look for WMD’s. ”Then there is another possibility that no one mentions. Alliances change and no one knows that more than America. Did Saddam give all his WMD’s to another country that hates America? There are several who meet that condition. North Korea? No, too far away to ship everything without getting caught. Who’s left? IRAN! And they are right next door, just miles from Baghdad. No one would think to look in Iran! Everyone believes that Iran and Iraq hate each other. And how in the world did Iraq and Iran iron out their differences? Al Qaeda! ”Yes, it would be so easy to send all the WMD’s to Iran. Al Qaeda is there and they most likely have control of the weapons. It was more a gift to al Qaeda than to the Iranians. And, is there a possibility that Saddam is there to, along with his sons? In the world today, nothing is impossible. ”There is no doubt that Iran is covertly fueling the flames of hate for America in Iraq. There are operatives being sent in to pay young Iraqis to protest America or to ambush American Troops. Our Troops are dying nearly every day and the blood is on the hands of the Iranians and al Qaeda. ”Did Saddam get some sort of deal to flee to Iran? If Iran gets control of Iraq in the future, was Saddam promised to be restored to his former post? Did the WMD’s go with the deal?” I think this is all totally within the realm of possibility. Yet it seems the Democratic Party is politicizing the WMD situation at a great risk to their credibility, not President Bush’s. As they said on Fox News Sunday, they’ve gone way out on a limb with this. I think it’s all quite shameful! Yes, it is a political maneuver and nothing more. They hate President Bush and everything he stands for. I’m going to repeat a paragraph from above: “The war happened. We found stock piles of chemical suits and yes, those autoinjectors were found too. We also found mass graves, some filled with bodies only days before the war began. We are still hearing horrifying stories of torture, terror, rape, inhumane imprisonment, and murder. Our forces freed children from prison!!! The truth is - Saddam is responsible for an Islamic holocaust. It is that simple! He has murdered more Muslims that anyone in history.” Have you heard any of the Democrats saying anything about these things? I think that is shameful too! We must have much more patience with the resolution of the problems in Iraq. We now see how horrifying life was there. It will take some time for some Iraqis to come around. It will take some time to figure out what this despotic regime actually did. Even to this day, Nazi records and diaries come to light, further exposing the horrific events of WWII and the Jewish Holocaust. There are things we will never know about Hitler’s regime. Why do we demand so very much, now, out of Iraq? Please continue your prayers for the allied soldiers and officials in both Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over this restless world. Pray for the work toward peace in the Middle East. Pray for India’s prolonged drought. Pray for the end of fighting in Kashmir. Pray for the people of North Korea who are starving while their ruler, Kim Jong-il, makes his own weapons of mass destruction and brazenly threatens the world. Pray for the orphaned little babies in China, most of whom are girls – only one child can be born to a couple. The “extras” are either aborted or sit in orphanages, never held or loved. Pray for all those who fight terror of all kinds, all over the planet. It is everywhere and no country can count on being spared. Pray for the Iraqi people, that their hopes of freedom and democracy can be realized and they can know and live true freedom, not just imagine it. You see, there is much to hold our attention, not the lack of WMD’s in Iraq. Shortie 06-22-03 |
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