How difficult would it have been for him to point out that at the time of the ousting of the inspectors, the Iraqis had 5.5 tons of VX nerve gas?
He, or his administration did. Many times. Most people just didn’t want to hear it.
Instead of making vague allegations about possible WMD, why didn't Bush simply come out with the historical record that so obviously proves that Saddam is in violation of these agreements?
He, or his administration did. Many times. Most people just didn’t want to hear it.
Here are three speeches, I just went to the ones that I knew had information, but there are more out there. It is really simple to find an even greater litany of what Saddam has. You just have to look.
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“From 1991 to 1995, the Iraqi regime said it had no biological weapons. After a senior official in its weapons program defected and exposed this lie, the regime admitted to producing tens of thousands of liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents for use with scud warheads, aerial bombs and aircraft spray tanks. U.N. inspectors believe Iraq has produced two to four times the amount of biological agents it declared and has failed to account for more than three metric tons of material that could be used to produce biological weapons. Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. United Nations' inspections also reviewed that Iraq like maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents, and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities capable of producing chemical weapons.†George W. Bush, Sept. 12, 2002.
“Al Qaeda terrorists escaped from Afghanistan and are known to be in Iraq.†George W. Bush, Sept. 12, 2002.
“In 1995, after several years of deceit by the Iraqi regime, the head of Iraq's military industries defected. It was then that the regime was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000 liters of anthrax and other deadly biological agents. The inspectors, however, concluded that Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount.†George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.
“We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas.†George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.
“surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons.†George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.
“Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases.†George W. Bush, Oct. 7, 2002.
“This one [satellite photo] is about a weapons munition facility, a facility that holds ammunition at a place called Taji (ph). This is one of about 65 such facilities in Iraq. We know that this one has housed chemical munitions. In fact, this is where the Iraqis recently came up with the additional four chemical weapon shells. Here, you see 15 munitions bunkers in yellow and red outlines. The four that are in red squares represent active chemical munitions bunkers...The truck you also see is a signature item. It’s a decontamination vehicle in case something goes wrong.†Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
“Iraq declared 8,500 liters of anthrax, but UNSCOM estimates that Saddam Hussein could have produced 25,000 liters.†Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
“He [defected Iraqi chemical engineer] reported that when UNSCOM was in country and inspecting, the biological weapons agent production always began on Thursdays at midnight because Iraq thought UNSCOM would not inspect on the Muslim Holy Day, Thursday night through Friday. He added that this was important because the units [mobile biological production trucks] could not be broken down in the middle of a production run, which had to be completed by Friday evening before the inspectors might arrive again.†Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
“We know that Iraq has at lest seven of these mobile biological agent factories. The truck-mounted ones have at least two or three trucks each.†Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
“Second, as with biological weapons, Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents. If we consider just one category of missing weaponry — 6,500 bombs from the Iran-Iraq war — UNMOVIC says the amount of chemical agent in them would be in the order of 1,000 tons.†Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
"Iraq’s record on chemical weapons is replete with lies. It took years for Iraq to finally admit that it had produced four tons of the deadly nerve agent, VX. A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons...UNSCOM also gained forensic evidence that Iraq had produced VX and put it into weapons for delivery...Yet, to this day, Iraq denies it had ever weaponized VX. And on January 27, UNMOVIC told this council that it has information that conflicts with the Iraqi account of its VX program." Colin Powell, Feb 5, 2003
And on and on it could go
