I thought the UN was ineffective? I thought the UN was corrupt?

it is. it is

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:11:46 -0400, DSK wrote:


Frankly if the Iraqi WMDs existed in the post Gulf War era (which the best
US intel now doubts strongly) and if they went to Syria (which nobody
except a handful of fascist half-wits believe) then your "reasons" are
little more than lame excuses. Those WMDs (if they exist) constitute a
SERIOUS threat, perhaps an even greater one if laying around in Syria
where there are all kinds of uncontrolled half-baked fundie hellraisers
instead of Iraq, where a very strong & well disciplined force controlled
by a very secular gov't kept the terrorists out.


Yeah, it's a little difficult selling the world as a "safer place" with
all those WMDs unaccounted for, if they existed. Something else to note,
the nitwit in charge has marginalized the two *secular* states in the
area, Syria and Iraq. This has proved a boon for the area's fundie state,
Iran. We've eliminated one of their sworn enemies, Iraq, and added to
Iran's sphere of influence, the Iraqi Shias. If Iraq doesn't hold
together, and it's still an even money bet, we have destabilized the
entire area. There will likely be a Kurdish state, something Turkey very
much wants to avoid, and the big player in the area, will not be the US,
it will be Iran. Pure genius, this President we are saddled with.

"DSK" wrote in message
...
If the WMDs were in Syria, why didn't we go get them... or at least
unveil them FOR REAL (I mean, does anybody except a few far-rightie
whackos believe this news you quote)?



NOYB wrote:
Because it was the Russians who helped smuggle the weapons to Syria...and
dealing with Russia is a little bit more complicated than dealing with
Iraq.


Oh, are the Russians our pals now?

No. They're deceitful and cannot be trusted.

Maybe because of the nuclear material they're selling to Iran, we should
keep a "hands off" approach?


No. But you must use a little more diplomacy with a nuclear power.

Here's an interesting tie-in with this thread:


Wednesday, October 26, 2005 · Last updated 3:10 a.m. PT

Reports: Moscow opposes Syria sanctions

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW -- Russia will try to prevent the United Nations from leveling
sanctions against Syria, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said
Wednesday, according to Russian news reports.

"Russia opposes sanctions against Syria," Mikhail Kamynin said while
accompanying Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a trip to Israel, according
to the Interfax, Itar-Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies. "Russia will be
doing everything necessary to prevent attempts to impose sanctions against
Syria."



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...be_Russia.html

"DSK" wrote in message
...
If the Bush Administration has reliable intelligence sources that can
track a single van thru the Bekaa Valley in Syria, why do you think they
couldn't track multiple big tractor-trailer truck loads of WMDs?

Are you rethinking any of this yet?

Here's mo

http://reformsyria.org/Archives/docu...ing%20Iraq.pdf

Former head of the Iraq Survey Group, David Kay, has confirmed that Saddam

Hussein sent convoys to Syria full of "Iraqi equipment" that could not be
identified,

and that they could possibly have had weapons of mass destruction. He
confirmed

that senior Iraqi scientific and military officials who would have access to
technical

documentation and knowledge of the programs fled to Syria immediately before
and

during the war. [8] According to intelligence gathering, the major transfer
of WMD

goods from Iraq to Syria and Lebanon occurred between January and March of
2003.

However, the first shipments occurred even before then. In December of 2002,
Israel

claimed that Syria was hiding Iraqi mobile biological weapons labs, chemical
and

biological components and munitions. [9] The shipments were reportedly
negotiated

between Bashar Assad's younger brother, Maher, and Saddam Hussein. Following

their meeting, Syria agreed to harbor WMDs and officials should inspections
begin

again. [10]



Israeli intelligence says that between January 10th and March 10th, the
transfer of

Iraqi chemical (and possibly biological) weapons to Syria and Lebanon's
Bekaa Valley

was completed. They were placed in giant tankers and taken to Syria, and
then to

the Bekaa Valley under the protection of Syrian special forces and air-force

intelligence units. Syrian army engineers then took over supervising the
tankers at

the poppy fields and used special drilling equipment to dig holes
approximately 20-

26 feet across and 82-115 feet deep. The weapons were buried under the poppy

fields grown for heroin and under the rows of cotton plants in two of the
most fertile

regions of Lebanon. This is done because the local population is farmers
(less dense

population) and the poppy and cotton fields will grow over the holes
extremely

quickly. This is at the valley stretching between Jabal Akroum, the town of
al-

Qbayyat and the Syrian border.



Weapons were also hidden at the land between the towns of al-Hirmil and
al-Labwah

between the Orontes River and the Syrian border. Israeli satellite photos
showed it

occurred at night and the crews wore protective suits. The local farmers
were

reportedly bribed into not saying anything, but we can also not rule out
threats.

Intelligence sources indicate that satellite photos prove the whole transfer
here took

place. [11]