US TROOPS CAPTURE CHEMICAL PLANT The Story is from the Jerusalem Post, which many people might not believe 100%. But if it is true, No Worries (and some others) should just shut up on this issue. The article: Mar. 23, 2003 US TROOPS CAPTURE CHEMICAL PLANT By CAROLINE GLICK An Najaf, Iraq Caroline B. Glick About 30 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered today to US forces of the 3rd Infantry Division as they overtook huge installation apparently used to produce chemical weapons in An Najaf, some 250 kilometers south of Baghdad. One soldier was lightly wounded when a booby-trapped explosive went off as he was clearing the sheet metal-lined facility, which resembles the eery images of scientific facilities in World War II concentration camps. The huge 100-acre complex, which is surrounded by a electrical fence, is perhaps the first illegal chemical plant to be uncovered by US troops in their current mission in Iraq. The surrounding barracks resemble an abandoned slum. It wasn't immediately clear exactly which chemicals were being produced here, but clearly the Iraqis tried to camouflage the facility so it could not be photographed aerially, by swathing it in sand-cast walls to make it look like the surrounding desert. Within minutes of our entry into the camp on Sunday afternoon, at least 30 Iraqi soldiers and their commanding officer of the rank of General, obeyed the instructions of US soldiers who called out from our jeep in loudspeakers for them to lie down on the ground, and put their hands above their heads to surrender. Today's operation is the third engagement with Iraqi forces by the First Brigade of the US army's 3rd Infantry Division, since Saturday afternoon. So far in the campaign, the brigade has suffered no losses. But two were wounded Saturday night in an ambush on the outskirts of As-Samwah in southern Iraq.
If this is true, it was just a matter of time. It's common knowledge that Iraq has chemical weapons, but people were busting on Bush for not finding the weapons yet, as if the coalition could just walk in and find WMD and chemical weapons in broad daylight.
I don't believe it. This is zionist propaganda. The US planted the.. er, plant there. Wait, the Jews did it!
My two cents - the Jerusalem Post has been very unreliable lately, as you pointed out. Well I can't say they've been unreliable on more than one instance, but I was pissed off when they reported bin Laden was captured, which if I remember correctly, they reported something like that. So I wouldn't trust it just yet. For the life of me though, I can't figure out why some people think Iraq does not hide weapons or has none of them. This is Saddam Hussein here. He's been brutal and ruthless to his own people. They've lit some of their own country's oil wells on fire. According to CNN, the Republican Guard was herding women and children to military targets. We know they had these weapons and we just trust they destroyed them? I don't get it. I mean, was it the assurances of Sean Penn?
Re: the credibility of the story. This journalist is a Jewish-American reporter for the J Post (Zionist conspiracy alert ). She has obviously been embedded into the formation from which she is reporting. It would be hard, I think, to make up stuff about things that should be happening right in front of you, when so many of your fellow travellers are present.
For what it's worth, CNN has a caption to the pic below which places this division in the same area as the above story. U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division soldiers secure a field near Najaf, Iraq, today
You mean, you actually premise your Bush-bashing on the notion that Iraq *doesn't* have WMD? Wow. That sure is a stretch.
What about the fact that Saddam Hussein and people are slaughtering their own people, torturing and killing POW, and showed broadcasts cheering the 9-11 attacks? I peaceful person wouldn't cheer for the deaths of innocent people by way of terrorist attacks like Saddam did.
Not yet..............but exhibit patience because the <i>closet</i> is just now opening on things like this.
Really? I'm sorry, but I don't know if that's good enough, and this is why: Anti-war protestors were trying to prevent the use of force, which in turn would have never proven that these weapons existed (well, at least until they were actually used to murder people). One of the reasons behind the Anti-War protests is that they claimed <i>they</i> didn't see any proof that Iraq has WMD. Often times, these same protestors do not even acknowledge the need for the United States Government to conceal detailed information relative to the subject. So, this is where liberal cynicism comes into play, and people just start assuming the government is lying about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. Or, they just expect the government to divulge top secret information, despite the fact that it would make all previous intelligence up to that point completely null and void. When Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are discovered, merely "stopping the bush/american bashing" is not going to be enough. I think some apologies are in order, or at the very least some admittance of how dead wrong they were. And I'm not saying that anti-war protestors are stupid for wanting more proof about Iraq's WMD, so don't get me wrong. I understand where they are coming from and their desire for proof before assuming such a risk. I'm just saying that if anti-war and anti-american protestors who were making the assumption (sometimes presented as fact) that America was lying about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, then they need to take some accountability. In my opinion, humility is a virtue, and if anti-war protestors have none after the discovery of WMD, then I have no respect for them.
Did anybody else here the report about chemical weapons being found? Fox News said that it confirmed what they had long suspected, that Iraq had chemical weapons and shells. But they haven't talked about it since. I know I'm not hearing things.
It is childish of anyone to believe that a 3rd world dictatorship didn't have chemical weapons considering those weapons are on the very low end of the scale in terms of difficulty of manufacture. Why would this stop people from bashing Bush though? It doesn't excuse his horrible foreign relations screwups or his idiotic domestic policies.
Well, as you said in your first statement, apparently Bush has been dealing with children. I think that would make foreign relations difficult for anyone.
Maybe they didn't feel he could launch an artillery shell half way around the world. I'm no physics major, buuuuut I'm kidding of course. Don't get on my case. It was a joke.
I heard that they found chemical weapons in or near Al Kut. I still haven't heard Fox News re-confirm this, but I would be shocked if they DIDN'T find any kind of biological or chemical weapons in Iraq.
According to The Agonist, which has been providing by-the-minute news updates since the war started, MSNBC is currently reporting that the Jerusalem Post story is false.
