WMD - WTF or OMG?

Now that we have another, brand new crisis in the Middle East, all eyes are off of Syria. However, Syria is a festering wound for many different reasons. Most of the attention has been focused on Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar Hafez al-Assad. Assad, like his father before him, will do anything to hold onto power and crush whoever gets in his way.  

For example, according to the United Nations, since the 18-month-old conflict in Syria began, more than 20,000 people have been killed, 1.2 million have been uprooted, and more than 250,000 have fled abroad. Food, water and medical supplies have run short in areas subjected to Syrian government air strikes, shelling and siege.

However, there is something far more sinister to Syria. First we need to dial back the clock to very early 2003, right before the Iraq War began. The United States and the UK asserted that Saddam Hussein possessed large hidden stockpiles of  WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), and that he was clandestinely procuring and producing more. After being subjected to withering pressure from the United Nations, Saddam Hussein finally agreed to let sanctioned inspectors resolve the status of suspected WMD.

We knew Iraq had them - since Saddam had used chemical weapons on the Iranians during the eight year war as well as on the Kurds (his own people) in the Northern Iraq. President Bush as been excoriated time and time again when none were found during the inspections. However, President Bush was not alone on his suppositions on WMD. For example, consider the following very important quotes by notable people:

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
--Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998
 

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."

-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."

-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

-- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

There are many more quotes, but I think the point has been made. Memories became very short after hostilities began with Iraq and again, no WMDs were found. All of a sudden the cry from many in the opposition party was "Bush lied and people died!". The irony was some of the people saying this are quoted above saying something quite different. Besides the fact both parties of our political system believed at some time Saddam had WMD, many of our allies also believed it!
 

So what happened to this huge arsenal of chemical and biological weapons? Some of these weapons are so heinous that to use them on a human population is beyond comprehension. Anthrax, Monkey Pox, Nerve Gas, and so on. To safely destroy these most toxic of weapons would have surely left some reside or clues. Or were we victims of a shell game with most willing accomplices living right next door - Lebanon and Syria. 
 

The Bekaa Valley in Lebanon is long suspected of housing Iraq's WMDs. Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States, as the containers are located in Lebanon’s heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley and it is swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces. In fact, U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon as early as January 2003.

This needs to sink in just for a minute. Weapons of a horrible resolve are located close to and guarded by Syria. Syria, who is currently murdering it's own people, who will stop at nothing to retain power, has access to tons of WMDs. Syria, who has no love for us and hates Israel, is guarding these weapons along with Iranian troops, who also has no love for us and wants to destroy Israel.

U.S. intelligence sources also believe the area contains extended-range Scud-based missiles and parts for chemical and biological warheads.

Get the picture? Many in this country still believe the Iraq War was about oil and it was Bush's war of choice. The WMD question usually got a WTF answer. If these weapons come out of hiding to be used against Israel, our allies, or even us, we will then find the WMD question will be answered with OMG, and OMG might not even be adequate to describe the indescribable horror being unleashed.