Does anyone dare see the gorilla...?

[LeftHander]

When will some one ask Mr. Bush where the weapons are?

By Brad Odland

While the media scrambles to report on events that occurred more than 30 years ago the Bush administration is quietly hoping that no one sees the 400 pound gorilla sitting in the room. That oversized primate is of course the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. No massive stockpile of mustard gas, anthrax. No sophisticated nuclear facilities capable of producing weapons grade nuclear material.

How soon the American public has forgotten the conviction with which Mr. Bush, Colin Powell, COndleeza Rica and DIck Cheney used to convince the American public that Iraq was certainly going to hand over deadly weapons to terrorists for use against Americans.

Lets review some of the details of the 400 pound gorilla. (List found on lunaville.org - The Tangled Web We Weave)

Starting with Dick Cheney, right about the time Halliburton's stock price was plummeting to all time low.

"We are greatly concerned about any possible linkup between terrorists and regimes that have or seek weapons of mass destruction...In the case of Saddam Hussein, we've got a dictator who is clearly pursuing and already possesses some of these weapons.. A regime that hates America and everything we stand for must never be permitted to threaten America with weapons of mass destruction."

Dick Cheney, June 2002 - Detriot

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. "

Dick Cheney, VFW National Convention August 2002

Then we get to a speech from Mr. Bush in Ohio in August of 2002. A speech that outlines the Iraqi Threat.

"After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon."

"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas. Saddam Hussein also has experience in using chemical weapons. He has ordered chemical attacks on Iran, and on more than forty villages in his own country. These actions killed or injured at least 20,000 people, more than six times the number of people who died in the attacks of September the 11th."

"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States. And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems aren't required for a chemical or biological attack; all that might be required are a small container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver it."

The drums of War and the fear mongering continued and began reaching a fevered pitch by December of 2002 and started to drift through the ranks of the GOP.

"Iraq could decide on any given day to provide biological or chemical weapons to a terrorist group or to individual terrorists,...The war on terror will not be won until Iraq is completely and verifiably deprived of weapons of mass destruction."

Dick Cheney December 2002.

"I am absolutely convinced, based on the information that’s been given to me, that the weapon of mass destruction which can kill more people than an atomic bomb -- that is, biological weapons -- is in the hands of the leadership of Iraq."

Bill Frist MSNBC Interview. Dec. 2002

THen finally in the most important Presidential speech , the State of the Union Address Mr Bush had this to say:

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

George W. Bush - State of the Union Address January 2003

The controversy still swirls around the backwaters of the FBI over this claim. The Plame Affair, and the character assassination of Joseph WIlson by the WHite House still remain to be played out.

By February of 2003 Colin Powell put the final nail in Iraq's coffin and hundreds of U.S. soldiers with his presentation at the U.N.. Soon after public opinion was sufficient that war could begin. And it did.

"There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction. If biological weapons seem too terrible to contemplate, chemical weapons are equally chilling"

Colin Powell address to the U.N. Security Council Feb. 2003

So now after billions of dollars have been spent, tens of thousands are dead, a torture scandal exposed and 1000 U.S. Troops have paid the ultimate sacrifice we still cannot be told where the weapons are that created the ominous threat to America. The media is silent as is Mr. Bush in this matter. Instead we continue to ignore the gorilla in the room even though he is really starting to smell.