Don't Move...There Is WMD Behind You
As the Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom call into question the notion of Freedom around the world, the whip cracked above our heads by the ideologues we are permitting to hold the reins is the whip called WMD's. This is the call to arms that thrust us into war with the Iraqi people even though the Iraqi people were not necessarily at war with us. This is the grim scenario that haunts us. We will have a major city fall by means of a hissing black box of toxic vapors.
Not that it is altogether unheard of. The Jordanian Plot from back in April could be considered a heinous prelude to what kind of an attack violent Islamists wish to make on the U.S. Sulfuric acid, various nerve gases, and just enough conventional explosives to widely scatter the agents without incinerating them exploding in a densely packed urban area. The theoretical casualty metrics were thought to be around 80,000. In the conflicting reports that try to access damage estimates, the high tallies are usually suspect. There have never been any actual cases of such high yields. And CB weapons have been around a long, long time. One of the most notorious attacks, one that now compels so much attention, was largely excused by the U.S. at the time it happened.
Halabja is the attack that is pointed to most often to convince the general public of the dangers that a madman like Saddam Hussein represented. It is significant that this attack happened 16 years ago. At the time, according to The State Department Iran was implicated in the attacks. Weeks would follow before any condemnation officially issued forth from the U.S. towards Iraq. We protected Hussein from adverse world opinion. Where was our outrage?
But also significant is the nature of the attack itself. According to Super Terrorism: Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear, by Yonah Alexander and Milton Hoenig, possibly 112 sorties were flown in the air raids that killed the 5,000 or so civilians at Halabja. It took all night and part of the following day. Some experts believe that, depending on weather factors, it may take a ton of concentrated gas not blowing away to effect a single casualty. Iran, implicated by the U.S. quickly arranged for international journalists to view the immediate aftermath. If they hadnt, little would be known about the incident whatsoever.
A recent report by terrorist expert Brendan ONeill in Spiked Politics suggests that our conventional knowledge of WMDs is badly skewed. He quotes David C Rapoport, professor of political science at University of California as saying, Such weapons do not cause mass destruction. As shocking as that may sound, it may also be an indicator of why our military abandoned research into using CW and BW in battlefield scenarios. They simply were not as useful as conventional weapons.
So, an attack such as what Hussein unleashed in Northern Iraq took hours and hours of bombardment. The U.S., knowing Iraq was responsible, took immediate steps to implicate Iran. Iran, having been the recipient of dozens of Iraqi CW attacks that utilized U.S. targeting aid, was having none of it. They squealed to the press. Since this incident back in 1998, 15 people have died in a hostile terrorist attack using CWs. The President successfully launched us into all out war based on the justification that Iraq was a serious threat, although they had never had a missile that could go over 200km. Why, because no one at the time wanted to think about the threat. No newsgathering organization could be bothered into taking the 30 minutes necessary to uncover straightforward information regarding these weapons.
The threat of WMDs is largely myth.
Not that it is altogether unheard of. The Jordanian Plot from back in April could be considered a heinous prelude to what kind of an attack violent Islamists wish to make on the U.S. Sulfuric acid, various nerve gases, and just enough conventional explosives to widely scatter the agents without incinerating them exploding in a densely packed urban area. The theoretical casualty metrics were thought to be around 80,000. In the conflicting reports that try to access damage estimates, the high tallies are usually suspect. There have never been any actual cases of such high yields. And CB weapons have been around a long, long time. One of the most notorious attacks, one that now compels so much attention, was largely excused by the U.S. at the time it happened.
Halabja is the attack that is pointed to most often to convince the general public of the dangers that a madman like Saddam Hussein represented. It is significant that this attack happened 16 years ago. At the time, according to The State Department Iran was implicated in the attacks. Weeks would follow before any condemnation officially issued forth from the U.S. towards Iraq. We protected Hussein from adverse world opinion. Where was our outrage?
But also significant is the nature of the attack itself. According to Super Terrorism: Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear, by Yonah Alexander and Milton Hoenig, possibly 112 sorties were flown in the air raids that killed the 5,000 or so civilians at Halabja. It took all night and part of the following day. Some experts believe that, depending on weather factors, it may take a ton of concentrated gas not blowing away to effect a single casualty. Iran, implicated by the U.S. quickly arranged for international journalists to view the immediate aftermath. If they hadnt, little would be known about the incident whatsoever.
A recent report by terrorist expert Brendan ONeill in Spiked Politics suggests that our conventional knowledge of WMDs is badly skewed. He quotes David C Rapoport, professor of political science at University of California as saying, Such weapons do not cause mass destruction. As shocking as that may sound, it may also be an indicator of why our military abandoned research into using CW and BW in battlefield scenarios. They simply were not as useful as conventional weapons.
So, an attack such as what Hussein unleashed in Northern Iraq took hours and hours of bombardment. The U.S., knowing Iraq was responsible, took immediate steps to implicate Iran. Iran, having been the recipient of dozens of Iraqi CW attacks that utilized U.S. targeting aid, was having none of it. They squealed to the press. Since this incident back in 1998, 15 people have died in a hostile terrorist attack using CWs. The President successfully launched us into all out war based on the justification that Iraq was a serious threat, although they had never had a missile that could go over 200km. Why, because no one at the time wanted to think about the threat. No newsgathering organization could be bothered into taking the 30 minutes necessary to uncover straightforward information regarding these weapons.
The threat of WMDs is largely myth.
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posted by obelus at 10/17/2004 10:11:00 PM
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