You Gotta Be Kidding Me...

Browsing through the AP releases today and saw this one. What a bunch of bologna, you're telling me that you can just walk into a faciilities like this and haul out the components for Chemical and Biological Long Range Missiles, and better yet, they can determine that from Sattelite photos? I just don't buy that, and I think this is baited news. In other words somebody is getting ready to fire some missiles with Chem and/or Bio weapons, but I hardly think somebody just walked into some abandoned facility and hauled out long range missiles during the US occupation. Keep your eyes peeled, cause I smell something fishy here...

source
U.N.: Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq
Thursday, June 2, 2005 9:19 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By EDITH M. LEDERER

U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday.

U.N. inspectors have been blocked from returning to Iraq since the U.S.-led war in 2003 so they have been using satellite photos to see what happened to the sites that were subject to U.N. monitoring because their equipment had both civilian and military uses.

If you read the whole article, it's amazing how specific they can be when they want to eh? Fifteen years nearly now of weapons inspections, and now they get specific.

Edit:
One good way to spot a spin story like this is when the head line reads "Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq then the article says... "the missing material can be used for legitimate purposes. "However, they can also be utilized for prohibited purposes if in a good state of repair."


[edit on 2-6-2005 by twitchy]
//ed to shorten and fix link//

[edit on 4-6-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

Concerns about this have been raised a number of times and the Bush administration hasn't seen fit to deal with them.

Remember that Iraq is in a chaotic state right now, so not everything is secured tightly. It's quite possible to get in and get this stuff... obviously.

Not surprising though.

The UN, US, or any other governmental body can say whatever they want and news agencies will simply report it. These governmental bodies have lied before, lie now, and will lie again. Thus, news agencies don't know any better. Nor do we.

People will use these articles as proof, proof for whatever they choose to believe at the moment, whether it be for or against any action.

But, in reality, we don't know squat about what's going on in Iraq or anywhere else in the world. We just know what people tell us and somehow we're expected to believe the same governments we either never voted for or actively voted against.

Many people I've talked to simply don't watch or read opinionated or "intelligence-gathering" news anymore for such reasons as this. Some snubs in a building thousands of miles away can say such and such, news agencies will report it, and suddenly its supposed to be perceived as a sort of gospel.

In the ways of Socrates, I choose to say that we know next to nothing about this world.

Sorry for the rant, but in this so-called information age, the truth is like a diamond ring in a landfill. Happy hunting.

P.S. While this post may seem pessimistic, I do remain optimistic that I and everyone else of this world will find that diamond ring.

[edit on 2-6-2005 by Jamuhn]

Originally posted by twitchy
Browsing through the AP releases today and saw this one. What a bunch of bologna, you're telling me that you can just walk into a faciilities like this and haul out the components for Chemical and Biological Long Range Missiles, and better yet, they can determine that from Sattelite photos? ...

I have to agree. How could you tell salient parts were removed from satellite photography? Even if it was high res video, unless they were stupid enough to show the labels on the boxes, how could you tell?

Not to mention that any such materials were destroyed or confiscated years ago already.

Spin - no bout adoubt it.

This is the media trying to make a story out of nothing. The 'missing material' is all dual-use material. Like the baby formula factory in the Sudan that Clinton lobbed some Tomahawks at.

Dual-use materials need to be tracked carefully because they could be used in weapons programs, but they should not be labeled as weapons-making materials.

Originally posted by twitchy
Edit:
One good way to spot a spin story like this is when the head line reads "Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq then the article says... "the missing material can be used for legitimate purposes. "However, they can also be utilized for prohibited purposes if in a good state of repair."

Actually, even ordinary items like asprin (Yes, normal, over-the-counter asprin for headaches) can be used in highly dangerous ways, were being denied to Afghanistan after Daddy Bush's Gulf War I pushed Sodamn Insane back across the border. While certain goods were still being shipped for humanitarian purposes, even common medical supplies were being withheld while Afghanistan was under UN restrictions.

Originally posted by Jamuhn
In the ways of Socrates, I choose to say that we know next to nothing about this world.

I think one of the primary strengths that Socrates had was that, in the pursuit of wisdom, he could lead anybody into self-contradiction...But when such a tactic is used by a government against its own people & the people don't recognize the tactic for what it is, that's when it's time to worry.

Originally posted by Jamuhn
Sorry for the rant, but in this so-called information age, the truth is like a diamond ring in a landfill. Happy hunting.

Just the sheer volume of information that's available is what makes it so difficult for people to succeed in the hunt & still come out smelling like a rose...

Originally posted by PeanutButterJellyTime
Like the baby formula factory in the Sudan that Clinton lobbed some Tomahawks at.

Like my example of the asprin, this kind of attention to "dual-use" material could be used to label nearly any person in the world as a "suspected terrorist". Then you add to that how the Patriot Act describes such broadly-encompassing definitions of a "terrorist", it only compounds the problem.

For example, do you keep a tool kit in your car to help fix potential break-downs? Then you could also be arrested as a "suspected thief" for having "Breaking & Entering Tools". Do you have any cleaning supplies in your house, such as bleach or ammonia? That makes you a terrorist because those common supplies can be made into explosives & poisonous gasses.

No matter what you do, they'll try to find some way to get you whether you're coming or going.

Well, what you don't know about this story is that, all the items in question were marked with magic ink that could be only seen via satellite, and read "Use only for legit purposes, or for making illegal weapons of mass destruction", and now there is a note in the same ink in the empty spot that says "Stopped by to borrow your WMD. Will return when done. Peace out! OBL & Ali-Z"

You know abou this time last year they reported that several million tons of weapons were stolen from our Military. So much for security eh?

Pretty soon they will reporting that American GI's are missing their testicles, snatched from them in broad daylight by super Iraqi Insurgent Ninja!

Or pretty soon they will be reporting that these weapons were seized in shipments to North Korea or Iran.