Well Donald Rumsfeld still has the receipts so he figured Saddam must have them. Also it wasn’t hard to convince folks that yes Saddam probably had some WMDs because after all he’d gassed his own people so they got a trustworthy beloved General from the first Iraq war to spin a tale in front of the UN that most of American lapped up like so much OxyContin.
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An interesting point is that if Iraq had nuclear weapons or significant WMDs we would not have invaded. It is reasonable to assume prior to destruction or major loss of territory a country will use whatever means necessary to defend itself, including WMDs.
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So every country with WMDs gets a free pass to do whatever they want?
Maybe not “whatever” but it gives the a lot of negotiating power.
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Mostly means you probably won’t be invaded. Its used as a deterrence.
But you would not get a pass outside your own territory.
See Putin in Ukraine.
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This was what I always felt about Saddam’s posturing. It was for his own protection to make the US think he had more dangerous weapons than he actually had. If the US had actually thought he had nuclear weapons there would probably have been a diplomatic solution rather than a full out invasion.
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Part of it was Iraq wanted their neighbours to believe they still had chemical weapons.
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Iraq had used chemical weapons against their Kurdish minority so it was not a stretch to believe that they had chemical weapons and would use them if they got the chance. The long and detailed search for WMDs in Iraq certainly seems to support the idea that leaders expected to find WMDs there.
I don’t think that there was any serious thought that Iraq would have nukes except possibly a few items stolen out of the Russian arsenal when the USSR broke up.
It’s pretty certain that Iraq never did a nuclear test which would have been detected by seismographs.
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Yellow cake.
At a Veterans Day event this song was playing. I hadn’t heard it in a while.
I really wish I had gone a lot longer without hearing this poorly written, cheese-filled monstrosity. It didn’t age well, IMO.
The music yesterday at our main Remembrance Day service was very traditional with only one modern piece. That piece was Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah: it was rewritten with lyrics honouring the fallen soldiers. It was sung by a talented musician and was very moving and tasteful.
before clicking, based on your description, i am guessing lee greenwood.
and I was wrong. didn’t know that tune. based on your description, did not listen.
No - I don’t mind the Lee greenwood song.
There are two other post 9-11 country songs that are also annoying. “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” (which can be fun in moderation), and “American Soldier”.
Dress Blues or GTFO.
Way back when there was an Opryland, we went to a concert at the theater there which turned out to headline Lee Greenwood. I had no idea who he was and wouldn’t have recognized the song. But when it started, I looked around and noticed that we were the only people in the whole theater not standing. I didn’t know what the deal was, but said “Uh, I think we’d better stand”.
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Related from another angle, “I’m Not ready to make nice.”
Which is a bit ironic given the same crowd that canceled the Dixie Chicks later went on to cheer Trump when he claimed to be against the Iraq war.
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