This news broke while I was tied up for a few hours. It’s not easy to make sense out of this at the moment. Here’s a statement from the Senator’s website:
U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, joined Congressman Peter Hoekstra, (R-MI-2), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today to make a major announcement regarding the release of newly declassified information that proves the existence of chemical munitions in Iraq since 2003. The information was released by the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, and contained an unclassified summary of analysis conducted by the National Ground Intelligence Center. In March, Senator Santorum began advocating for the release of these documents to the American public.“The information released today proves that weapons of mass destruction are, in fact, in Iraq,” said Senator Santorum. “It is essential for the American people to understand that these weapons are in Iraq. I will continue to advocate for the complete declassification of this report so we can more fully understand the complete WMD picture inside Iraq.”
Austin Bay blogged it as it unfolded:
I heard a report on Fox News about twenty minutes ago (5 PM Central) that Senator Rick Santorum claims coalition investigators in Iraq found chemical weapons — artillery shells filled with a chemical agent (perhaps sarin nerve agent). The Fox report said Santorum had fought with the Pentagon and White House to get the information declassified. I’d like to see Santorum put his evidence up on the web. Michelle Malkin and her team at Hot Air already had a post up on the story– Hot Air’s post says the artillery shells contained either “degraded mustard” or sarin. I gather the stocks are 1991 (Desert Storm-era) weapons (in other words, left over weapons). I’m not sure that means Saddam had an active chemical weapons program but if this report proves to be true chemical weapons stock would be a violation of UNSCR 687. Stay tuned.
The Corner posted some of the declassified information:
* Since 2003 Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent.
* Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist.
* Pre-Gulf War Iraqi chemical weapons could be sold on the black market. Use of these weapons by terrorists or insurgent groups would have implications for Coalition forces in Iraq. The possibility of use outside Iraq cannot be ruled out.
You can read the declassification letter from John Negroponte for yourselves.
Of course the question that springs to mind is why would the administration sit on this information? Captain Ed works through that question and has some interesting points but it still doesn’t make sense to me.
Glenn Reynolds has a nice roundup and I certainly agree with his take on the WMD issue:
Stay tuned. WMD wasn’t the big issue for me, but it certainly has been turned into a keystone of the war debate, which may turn out to have been a mistake for war opponents.
I supported (and still support) the war in Iraq for many reasons but an immediate WMD threat wasn’t high on my list of concerns either.
Radioblogger.com has audio and a transcript of Hugh Hewitt and Senator Santorum discussiing this revelation:
HH: That’s fine. Again, putting away the classified stuff, focusing on the unclassified and published reports, is it your impression, Senator Santorum, that there have been a number of such discoveries?RS: It is my impression that there have been a number of such discoveries. It’s my impression that this is a very dangerous situation in Iraq, with the number of chemical weapons still believed to exist out there, and the threat that they might in fact get into the wrong hands. So Saddam, it is clear, from this report, had lots of chemical weapons around, and that people got their hands on them. So this is exactly what we were concerned about, that Saddam in fact had large stockpiles of chemical weapons, and would in fact…those chemical weapons could in fact get into the hands of people who would like to do harm to America.
You can listen to the interview in MP3 format here.
Excellent comments from Dan Riehl:
I realize 500 is a nice round number. But the fact is, we have been finding WMD in Iraq since May of 2004. It’s been reported, just not emphasized. These are all separate finds below. Has everyone started to believe the MSM spin we’ve been hearing on this? I stopped worrying about finding WMD a long time ago.
Check his post for proof.
What impact will this have on the “Bush lied” crowd? If you said “none whatsoever” you get a cookie. Via Stop the ACLU:
The truth is that it wouldn’t matter if we found huge stockpiles in underground facilities including a nuke, they would still try to conjure up some kind of countering talking point.
That said, it’s still nice to have the facts on your side.
Macsmind slaps down the Leftist spin machine before it can get cranked up:
Now some will say, “Yeah these were munitions that predated the first Iraq war, so they don’t count”. Idiots. The fact is that they were still in Iraq and Saddam did not declare them, AND the report says that they were hidden as to evade detection from the ISG. Even though they do not prove an ongoing WMD program in the 90s, they do show that both Saddam was still playing games and the coveted ISG and Hans Blix work left a lot to be desired.
I tried to contact Scott Ritter and get his take on this story but a call to my local Burger King lead nowhere. Give the one in your area a call. Maybe we can track him down.
Someone at the Pentagon doesn’t sound too happy about this:
Offering the official administration response to FOX News, a senior Defense Department official pointed out that the chemical weapons were not in useable conditions.“This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991,” the official said, adding the munitions “are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war.”
WTF? Seriously WTF? Is Barbara Streisand being credited as a “senior DoD official” these days?
Chris Lawrence at Outside the Beltway wants to know where the rest went:
Perhaps more disturbing is that Iraq’s weapons stocks remain largely unaccounted for. As Alex Knapp has noted repeatedly, and the administration documents seem to reinforce, there is strong evidence that terrorist groups in and around Iraq have been seeking chemical and biological weapons; we can only hope the ISG has been more diligent in finding these munitions than al-Qaida or the Sunni insurgents.
There’s still about the importance of this revelation. Chester takes a look at why the government may have decided to sit on this information.
More to come..
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June 22nd, 2006 at 3:44 am
Didn’t The Democrats Say There Was No WMD?
One of the reasons why we invaded Iraq is because Saddam refused to allow inspectors in, now we know why. The lefties may try to say that Karl Rove planted them, hell Murtha will be the first one out the block to tell the world the Marines planted the…
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:49 am
What the?…
A colleague of mine just told me that he heard on the radio at the top of the hour that there was a report about found WMD in Iraq. Anyone know anything about that?
I have been in a news blackout, so if you have any info let me know…
Update: …
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:51 am
Even more MWD found in Iraq
From FoxNews… "We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a…
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:55 pm
The Drive-by-Media can’t find the story. Perhaps it’s buried in a bunker or under a sand dune. The sooner we real American patriots destroy the DbM, the sooner logic and truth will guide all Americans in making decisions that affect their lives. In the War on Terror, there are 2 enemies. Radical islam, and leftists anti-Americans. Beating the radicals will not help us defeat the leftists, but beating the leftists will help us defeat radical Islam.
A few years ago, I would not have imagined such a situation.
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Them WMDs Must Be Here Somewheres …
By now, you all know that Little Ricky said last night on Fox News that they’d finally found those elusive WMDs, the existence of which was put forward as the first of many reasons we went to war. Of course,
June 23rd, 2006 at 10:43 pm
The Old Liberal Mind Trick ?These Aren?t The WMD?s You Are Looking For?
You can never catch liberals, wrapped up in hatred for America, in a lie. Not because they don?t lie; they do that more often than Imelda Marcos buys shoes! But rather because they simply either claim that what they said was not what they said or that the
June 24th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
I find it oh so interesting that it’s Senator Santorum releasing this information to the press. Shouldn’t this be the job of the Pentagon? Donald Rumsfeld? Or maybe even the President?
Silly me to think this actually has something to do with that fact Mr. Santorum is lagging in the poles behind the Democratic challenger for his senate seat.
The right wing has become more pathetic than Ted Kennedy!!!!
June 24th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
I almost started laughing before I heard the end of the first “news” report on this. Here’s a clue: if a chemical munition has a sticker on it that says “Best if used by 1985″, and it’s now 2006, it’s not a chemical munition anymore – it’s a war relic. And while you’re looking at stickers, notice the one that says “Made in the USA” on these things. We sold them to Saddam in the 80′s….derrrr.
Iraq and Iran lobbed these things at each other for ten years, and you think it’s some major breakthrough to stumble on them now? They’re all over the place! Adding up all the seperate “finds” and lumping them together to make a “stockpile”? That’s pretty desperate, and all you’ve created is a “stockpile” of scrap metal.
June 27th, 2006 at 1:54 am
Educating Liberals
We continue from last week, on my post (adamelijah/12845) on homeschooling Mike
June 28th, 2006 at 1:34 am
Dang right!
Them thar WMD’s wuz a hiding right in front of our eyes!
Dang them librals! If them weapons is so dang harmless why dont they go over thar and fit ‘em a big handful of chemicals and eat it with thar fancy vegetables!
I dont thank so….
Thats librals fer ya…always hatin America…
I say we go git them WMD’s that they is a’ hidin in Syria….Then we go to Iran and North Korea…Then we go ta Saudi Arabia and Yemen…Then we go to China…
Not that WMD’s is the reason we went ta war….It wuz really ta liberate the noble Iraqi…a people that is so wonderful and great….
I love them
Except fer that thar Saddam Hussein…and that Zarkauwi…And The new guy that replaced him…And the guy with the turban that preaches….and Usay and his brother….and the insurgents…and the terrorists…
June 30th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
well, it begins. here is where the rabbits start hopping outta hats. I’ve been trying to tell people since the beginning. Of course information about wmd’s and bin laden and dead al-quaeda lieutenants will begin showing up. 2 very revealing times are ahead. first the during the 2008 elections, (r)’s will finally present their cards. Many (d)’s will be very embarassed. Second during the declassification of all documents pertaining to the war in iraq and the war on terror (two different wars: one to protect and the other for regret’s sake). Why on earth does the public think that Bush can stand up there and blatantly in the face of calls for impeachment and investigations, say “History will be my judge.” What is being witnessed is no more than the same tug of war that occurred before world war II. Isolationism -vs- Interventionism
Welcome to wwIV
regards,
Calatos de Luminarium
Hailer of Light
July 8th, 2006 at 3:10 am
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/21/dod-disavows-santorum/
Wrong again… good try…
July 18th, 2006 at 2:37 am
Rick Santorum will soon be a rather dreary piece of history having used up all or any of his common sense. He’s a Senator, not the President not the DOD and not particularly wanted in PA any more. Rick pulled a pretend rabbit out of Don Rummy’s thick head. When boys of a feather all flock together, truth will definitely sound like, well…truthful-fiction.
Rick is a tag-a-long. Not one independent thought has emerged from his head since he was given an implant. Hey, and I’m a Republican, rightest.
November 21st, 2006 at 7:33 pm
So waht that Santorum said that they found the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? They were there, right? He did gas the Kurds, didnt’ he?
January 19th, 2007 at 1:39 am
You goofy right wingers will listen to anyone who helps your cause. Bush, (on 60 minutes) admitted he was wrong about WMDs in Iraq, which make Tricky Ricky Santorum someone you should think twice about quoting. Face it, the republicans got spanked, bush is a lame duck, and the Dems are taking the white house in 08! Limbaugh is a big fat idiot, and Sean “I wanna be like Rush” Hannity is a rat’s ass.