Former US Weapon Inspector says Saddam wanted to fool Iran

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3292370a12,00.html

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UNITED NATIONS: Saddam Hussein probably lied about his weapons of mass destruction because of pride and to protect himself from perceived Iranian attacks, a former US and UN weapons inspector said today.

Charles Duelfer, head of the CIA's Iraq survey group that hunted weapons after the 2003 Gulf War, said the threat from Iran was very real to Saddam, who wanted to create an impression he had more armaments than he really had.

"There was a greater concern than we could appreciate sitting here in Washington of the threat posed by Iran," Duelfer told the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Our gut feeling was not the same as the gut feeling one would have sitting in Baghdad."

Iraq and Iran fought a bloody war from 1980 to 1988 and kept up a low-level conflict after that. Suspicions were rife that Iran was developing weapons of mass destruction.

"Saddam was certainly aware of the WMD assessments of Iran and he created a certain ambiguity about what his capabilities were," Duelfer said.

Duelfer reported last October that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. But he said Saddam hoped in the future to reconstitute his unconventional arms programs and refused to let skilled scientists leave the country.

In a rare on-the-record talk, Duelfer said narcissism and pride played a large role in Saddam's obfuscation of his weapons, since he wanted to be a leader in science and technology, which meant nuclear capabilities.

Duelfer was the deputy executive chairman of Unscom, the UN Special Commission, which fielded inspectors in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. Iraq denied it had any unconventional weapons programs but shown proof to the contrary, Saddam's government allowed many to be destroyed but refused to account in detail what happened to all the armaments.

While President George W Bush used Iraq's alleged weapons to justify the 2003 invasion, Duelfer said Saddam also had a "key intelligence failure" by not understanding that the United States would follow through on its threats after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Saddam in 1991 established as a priority to get UN sanctions lifted, imposed after the 1990 Gulf War when his troops invaded Kuwait.

He tried to hide his arms programs, particularly biological and chemical weapons materials that are easier to conceal than nuclear facilities or missiles. Duelfer said Iraq resented inspectors prowling around, actions that immediately created mistrust between Iraqis and the UN teams.

But in 1998, Iraq decided that "no matter what they did the United States in particular as not going to climb off on resolving the sanctions issue" and so Baghdad cut off cooperation with inspectors, Duelfer recalled. Saddam then tried to erode the sanctions by exploiting splits among the major powers and bribing politicians around the world.

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This may also explain some of the differences in the WMD reports.

this sounds a lot like a belated attempt to justify the invasion...but it's interesting nonetheless

This is very old news. Ive stated this over and over for at least 6 months now.

How would that inspector know that for a fact, it is just an assumption. An easily made assumption as well because it makes a lot of sense to do such a thing.

This is pretty much common knowledge, but its good to see that it hasnt been forgotten in the storm of propaganda thrown against President Bush.

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Originally Posted by Fragony

How would that inspector know that for a fact, it is just an assumption. An easily made assumption as well because it makes a lot of sense to do such a thing.

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Yes its an easy assumption to make both before the conflict and after. One of the many compliants concerning the inspections during the 1990's was the duplicity that Saddam's government was attempting in keeping the Inspectors from certain locations and possible records.

Then there is the evidence that supports the assumption that has been made by Charles Duelfer that he included in his report - which also has some interesting transcripts of some interviews he conducted with Iraq officials within Saddam's regime.

Saddam played a dangerous game of intelliegence cat and mouse - and he lost his regime because of this game, because in the end the world's intelligence community was not certain that he had the capablity or not - and most of the intelligence services believed that he had some and was pursueing others.

Uhm, why the hell else would he have kicked the inspectors out so often? Isn't this elementary?

If he had no WMDs yet consistently refused to comply with inspectors, what other possible conclusion is there?


:dizzy2:

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

Uhm, why the hell else would he have kicked the inspectors out so often? Isn't this elementary?

If he had no WMDs yet consistently refused to comply with inspectors, what other possible conclusion is there?


:dizzy2:

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That he didn't like foreigners coming in to his country and nosing about. That he didn't want to appear weak to his enemies. That he just hated the Americans and so opposed anything that they might support. That he was molested by a weapons inspector when he was three years old. In short, there are a myriad of other explanations.

This just proves the inherent problems in launching elective, 'preventative' wars without substantial evidence. We all know what 'assume' makes out of 'u' and 'me'. ~;)

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We all know what 'assume' makes out of 'u' and 'me'.

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The problem was that Saddam ASSUMED we wouldnt attack ~;) So he indeed made an ass out of himself and us. Bit look whos the bigger ass and lost more.

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Originally Posted by Hurin_Rules

That he didn't like foreigners coming in to his country and nosing about. That he didn't want to appear weak to his enemies. That he just hated the Americans and so opposed anything that they might support. That he was molested by a weapons inspector when he was three years old. In short, there are a myriad of other explanations.

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Well, he lost the rights to have foreigners not snoop about his buisness when he invaded Kuwait. Everyone agreed on that.

When you bluff always be prepared to be called on it.

And by the looks of the latest pictures Saddam is still losing his shirt at poker... :bow:

Who in their right mind plays poker with a Texan, anyhow?

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

Who in their right mind plays poker with a Texan, anyhow?

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If I was single and she was good looking I would play pok-er...

Come to think of it, I do remember my time in Texas thinking that the other women were abnormally pretty.