RE: [IRAQ] RE: Name Calling vs. Ad Hominem

From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Thu May 08 2003 - 09:45:25 MDT

  • Next message: Damien Broderick: "[IRAQ] RE: Name Calling vs. Ad Hominem"

    Mitchell Porter wrote,
    > It's one month since they pulled down that statue in Baghdad. It was
    > *four years* between the end of Gulf War I and the discovery of the hidden
    > bioweapons program, and that only happened because its administrator,
    > Hussein Kamel, defected to Jordan - not because the weapons inspectors
    > independently stumbled upon it. Nuclear weapons programs may be hard
    > to hide, but bioweapons seed stocks can be stored in small containers and
    > buried anywhere you please. It's a bit premature to proclaim that
    > there were no WMDs.

    This is true. However, it is not too soon to declare that U.S. intelligence
    was flawed. We have already searched hundreds of sites where we were "sure"
    we would find bioweapons manufacturing. None of them turned out to be what
    the U.S. claimed. Even if we do eventually find something somewhere, it is
    clear that U.S. intelligence was just plain wrong on almost everything. It
    may be that they were lying as an excuse to attack Iraq. It may be that
    they were so interested in finding an excuse that the selectively
    interpreted intelligence reports in a way to say what they hoped they would
    say. But the bottom line is that other countries won't put up with our
    claim that we have secret evidence that will be presented later. From now
    on, I expect the U.S. will be distrusted unless it shows clear evidence up
    front.

    (This applies to "enemy combatants" as well, now that dozens of the
    prisoners have been released from Guantanamo with no connection to any
    crimes or war activity. Secret evidence and hidden tribunals always fail to
    be fair, and this round has been no different. The world won't put up with
    their citizens being detained without notification, without lawyers, without
    evidence, and without a chance to defend themselves.)

    --
    Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, IAM, GSEC, IBMCP
    <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> <www.Newstaff.com>
    


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