Anyone received email about Migs in the desert?

[October]

Repug "friend" sent me an email showing pictures of a Mig-25 Foxbat being unearthed in the Iraqi sands.

The email exclaims that Fox News covered the story...etc.

Has anyone else received this?

[Howardx]

1. i saw the pics at the time

it was a while ago, the repubs i argue with said it was proof wmd's could be hidden under the shifting sands.

[Sandpiper]

2. Old news

n/t

[Buck Turgidson]

3. Snopes says, "It's true!" Aug 2003

What military search teams eventually found at al Taqqadum, in July 2003, were remnants of the Iraqi Air Force as pictured above: a reported 30 to 40 planes, including several MiG-25 and Su-25 ground attack jets, buried more than 10 feet beneath tons of soil and covered with camouflage netting.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/sandplanes.asp

[Hobarticus]

4. The pics are real....funny thing is...

Whoever hid the MiG, led us to it.

How can we be led to imaginary WMDs under the desert?

[punpirate]

5. It's true...

... but it's being circulated with a line added at the bottom that the writer hopes more WMDs will be found before the election. That makes it sound current, but, in fact, the story is fourteen months old, and most of the wilder claims in the story originate in the NewsMax version.

This is more a curiosity piece than shocking new news.

[trotsky]

6. Snopes wrote it up.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/sandplanes.asp

Yes, the planes were found. But considering the amount of effort and equipment it took US to free them, could they honestly have been considered a WMD?

I've heard another report saying that these planes were buried during the Iraq-Iran war when Saddam didn't want Iran to steal them.

[October]

7. You guys are fast!

Thanks for all the info.

The woman who sent the email started out with "Election aside...you've got to see this!"

She's such a Kool-Aid type. <groan> Any suggestions on how to respond? I thought I'd start by telling her the story is more than a year old.

[trotsky]

9. Here's a good link to send.

Comes from the GOP mouthpiece, even, so they can't dismiss it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,93483,00.html

And the best quote from it?

He said the planes were not considered weapons of mass destruction for which coalition troops have been searching for months

Who's "he"? None other then Porter Goss, Bush's pick to be the new Director of the CIA.

[October]

15. Oh that is beautiful

Thanks!!!

[StClone]

8. Easy dismissal

Jets buried under Iraqi sand have little use.

There is no airport to take-off from, no fuel, no pilots, nor armaments. Old MIGs that weren't effective during war suddenly becoming potent sans spare parts, central command and maintenance is not likely. Disused, aging planes buried in the sand are just what they appear, useless and harmless.

[October]

10. Brilliant

Thanks.

[Drifter]

11. Not to mention the ...

extensive time, effort and money it would take to make them operational, once they are dug up.

Grab your rifle, and bury it in the backyard for 15 years. When you dig it up, is it going to work. No friggin way.

I could see it they were buried with protective measures, but it sure doesn't look like it.

Even operational, these planes are not WMD.

Cheers
Drifter

[Minstrel Boy]

12. They were hidden to keep them from being destroyed,

not because they represented some nefarious threat.

A nation is entitled to an air force. Even Iraq. There were no sanctions that said otherwise.

That Iraq chose to bury its air force rather than risk its certain loss demonstrates precisely what kind of a threat it posed. Much less of a threat than it poses now.

[LanternWaste]

13. Hmmm...

The MIG's are not classified as WMD's if that is the point your friend is attempting to make.

"WMD - Acronym (Weapon of Mass Destruction): An implement of war utilized to inflict mass casualties. These weapons typically fall into three categories: Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear.

Chemical Weapon - Using a caustic, non-biological agent to harm living entities.

Biological Weapon - Using a living organism (disease, virii, etc.) to harm living entities.

Nuclear Weapon - Utilizing an uncontrolled nuclear fission reaction (atomic bomb) and/or radioactive materials ("dirty bomb") to cause destruction to living entities and inanimate objects."

(This was copied from the State Dept. website in Feb. of 2003, it may still be there... but I doubt it since WMD's are something we're supposed to forget about).

According to the above definition, there is simply no way that fighter aircraft could be classified as WMD's. And, if someone persists on making that claim, then he's going to have to justify why we sell "WMD's" to some of the most anti-democratic nations on earth (Chile, Pakistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, etc. Source: http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/world.html)

If he actually thinks that combat aircraft are WMD's, then tell him Bush* is going to be forced to use his Pre-emptive doctrine on more than 95% of all nations on this planet.

[October]

14. All good points

I especially like the last comment.

;)