Re: size of surge increased 2-3 times?

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007, Jerry Okamura wrote:


"Alvin E. Toda" <aet@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Pine.BSI.4.64.0704190943432.25565@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, 19 Apr 2007, JP wrote:

On 19 avr, 15:35, Jean Smith <goterm...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <4626ac79$0$9009$4c368...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Depends on your definition of what is a WMD, but to answer your question NO
WMD's anywhere near what we were led to believe. But, once again, I ask a
very simple question, which up to now you absolutely refuse to answer. WHO
believed that Saddam had no WMD's?

The inspectors who had already been through their inventory after the
previous war as I recall.


Mr Okamura poses questions in black and white form, lacking
any nuance.

The real question at the time was whether Iraq had sufficient WMDs and conventional arms to be a danger to the surrounding countries.

The French were doubtful and suspected the Americans were being, once again, too simplistic about this and making mountains out of molehills. The French have long felt that the Americans have having a lack of a sense of proportion in some manners. This means deciding what is important and what is not. The French have a long history in making wrong decisions and have attempted to learn from them. It was clear to them at the time that they made a wrong decision in Vietnam, as the French had and that they were about to repeat it in Iraq.

The same is true of the accusation of cooperation on terrorist activities between Saddam's people and Ben Laden. Vice President Cheney tried to run with this one, citing supposed meetings etc. The French did not rule out contacts but concluded that there was "no organic" connection between the two, that means no mutally planned operations. No real aid granted to one another. The reason for the French scepticism is that the secular nature of Saddam's regime was a- or anti-Islamic, radical Islam was a danger to his power, the same it true in Syria. Saddam was on a different path.

For people like Cheney, ANY contact was proof of deeper relationship. The same with WMD, a few thousand left over poison gas shells (and there many still be than many buried in Iraq, a lot of material is) was proof of a WMD charge. The French were quite willing to accept residual WMDs lying around but not ready to go to war over them. Moreover the French, having once fooled around in that region, were mindful of the instabilities that fooling around can produce. They weighed those risks and found that the American argument for going into Iraq was seriously lacking. They were right.

So this can not be painted with the WMD story in the manner that Mr. Okamura has. It is misleading to do so.

Okamura likes to figure out how to tell when a lie is not a lie. He has a hard time with the truth. Heard Richard Pearle on the Charley Rose show defending the Iraq invasion while denying his responsibility in advocating for an invasion. It's too bad leaders like him have been in charge of our foreign policy for the last 6 years.

Calling the kettle black

How so?
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: size of surge increased 2-3 times?
    ... The French were doubtful and suspected the Americans were being, once again, too simplistic about this and making mountains out of molehills. ... It was clear to them at the time that they made a wrong decision in Vietnam, as the French had and that they were about to repeat it in Iraq. ... The same with WMD, a few thousand left over poison gas shells was proof of a WMD charge. ... Okamura likes to figure out how to tell when a lie is not a lie. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: size of surge increased 2-3 times?
    ... The French were doubtful and suspected the Americans were being, once again, too simplistic about this and making mountains out of molehills. ... It was clear to them at the time that they made a wrong decision in Vietnam, as the French had and that they were about to repeat it in Iraq. ... The same with WMD, a few thousand left over poison gas shells was proof of a WMD charge. ... So this can not be painted with the WMD story in the manner that Mr. Okamura has. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: size of surge increased 2-3 times?
    ... The French were doubtful and suspected the Americans were being, once again, too simplistic about this and making mountains out of molehills. ... It was clear to them at the time that they made a wrong decision in Vietnam, as the French had and that they were about to repeat it in Iraq. ... The same with WMD, a few thousand left over poison gas shells was proof of a WMD charge. ...
    (soc.retirement)
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