Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know, an ENORMOUS miscalculation on his part.
Alll he had to do was tell the truth but he was apparently determined to try and play a game with the outside world - publicly stating he had no WMD's but telling his own military that he still did (and letting that misinformation) slip outside - thus giving the impression that he still had the WMD's.
Possibly one of the most STUPID moves ever made by a national leader.
He was convinced the US would not attack and he could continue letting the world think he still had WMD's.
No one is quite sure WHY he did that, but speculation is that he wanted his neighbors to THINK that he still had WMD's so that they would be afraid of him.
Typical pin-headed bully.
Pretty common train of thought among such petty dictators. They got to power through intimidation and then try to stay in power the same way.
Same game the Iranians are playing now.
Trying to be more intimidating than they actually all.
A LOT of bark but not nearly as much bite.
Ken
Come on now.... Saddam denied having WMDs countless times for months before Bush launched his invasion...It didn't matter though, because WMDs had nothing to do with Bushes war.
Blah blah blah.
No Iran was posturing just as they were when they sent their speed boats out to harass our war ships.
Its what politicians do best Posture, bluster, and point the finger.
In this case we have Israel rattling the saber, Iran rattling the saber and the US backing up Israel no matter what.
We ought to say:
Okay Iran fire at Israel if you hit them you own what they do next.
Okay Israel do what you must, but understand you own this one and we will not come to your rescue in any way shape or form.
Are you sleeping?
"TBILISI, Georgia - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday that the United States will not back down in the face of threats against Israel. "
Come on now.... Saddam denied having WMDs countless times for months before Bush launched his invasion...It didn't matter though, because WMDs had nothing to do with Bushes war.
Weapons inspectors.....or is that the part you want to forget about?
Come on now.... Saddam denied having WMDs countless times for months before Bush launched his invasion...It didn't matter though, because WMDs had nothing to do with Bushes war.
You mean that whole.....in the interest of the free world thing?
Last edited by BigJon3475; 07-11-2008 at 03:58 PM..
"We The People" would be better off breaking our ties with Israel, and drastically changing our foreign policies.
I can imagine a United States that is not "Imperial", not hated all over the world, and a Super Power that all countries look to for direction. The opposite describes us now globally.
Your right, it's not about wmd's, or evil dictators, I think it's a myriad of things, such as Iraq, Iran going off the U.S. dollar/crude exchange for one. Wow things going on all over the world, and the countries that defy the U.S. are getting either invaded, or threatened to be! Israel is getting their Muslim threats wiped out at the same time-"How about that"
It's a deep, deep rabbit hole, I think we'll go into Iran no matter what. So anything Iran does will be blown up in the media to push their agenda.
I'm just curious what the lie will be this time, and how long it takes Americans to see it?
Obviously, you didn't look at the images too closely. If you had, you would have observed that the launcher is small, indicating that the missiles are short range, akin to a Lance or SCUD, and not capable of reaching Israel.
Even if you hadn't noticed the launcher, the astute observer would have instantly recognized that the missiles have only 1 stage, and therefore lack the range to hit Israel.
Aside from that, the launch trajectory is a dead give-away. Intermediate and long range ballistic missiles launch straight up and do not arc until maximum thrust.
I understand all the above. I am just tired of the political posturing over Iran's Missiles and Israels not so veiled threats. They are like to school yard tough guys day after day talking tough. Iran with very little ability to back their crap. And Israel pretty much screwed if they lost the USA as a sugar daddy and protector.
Come on now.... Saddam denied having WMDs countless times for months before Bush launched his invasion...It didn't matter though, because WMDs had nothing to do with Bushes war.
He denied it public but hinted in roundabout ways that he still had them. For example, US intelligence would intercept messages such as "Can you believe they missed it again?" and such right after weapons inspectors visited suspected sites (but of course found nothing). This led US intelligence to believe Saddam had the weapons but had somehow hidden the evidence from inspectors.
Thus the UN weapons inspectors would say "He has NO WMD's" and the CIA would say "Yes he does - you are just not finding them".
This was all part of Saddam's gameplan. Even his generals thought he had the weapons hidden somewhere and in fact many of them testified afterwards the same story - that once combat had started they pressed him to release the WMDs so that they could be used if necessary and were aghast to find out that he actually didn't have any.
Here's a quote from an interview with Saddam's interrogator:
"It was very important for him to project that because that was what kept him, in his mind, in power. That capability kept the Iranians away. It kept them from reinvading Iraq," Piro says.
Before his wars with America, Saddam had fought a ruinous eight year war with Iran and it was Iran he still feared the most.
"He believed that he couldn't survive without the perception that he had weapons of mass destruction?" Pelley asks.
"Absolutely," Piro says.
Here's the text of the interview that 60 Minutes did with the interrogator -
He denied it public but hinted in roundabout ways that he still had them. For example, US intelligence would intercept messages such as "Can you believe they missed it again?" and such right after weapons inspectors visited suspected sites (but of course found nothing). This led US intelligence to believe Saddam had the weapons but had somehow hidden the evidence from inspectors.
Thus the UN weapons inspectors would say "He has NO WMD's" and the CIA would say "Yes he does - you are just not finding them".
This was all part of Saddam's gameplan. Even his generals thought he had the weapons hidden somewhere and in fact many of them testified afterwards the same story - that once combat had started they pressed him to release the WMDs so that they could be used if necessary and were aghast to find out that he actually didn't have any.
Here's a quote from an interview with Saddam's interrogator:
"It was very important for him to project that because that was what kept him, in his mind, in power. That capability kept the Iranians away. It kept them from reinvading Iraq," Piro says.
Before his wars with America, Saddam had fought a ruinous eight year war with Iran and it was Iran he still feared the most.
"He believed that he couldn't survive without the perception that he had weapons of mass destruction?" Pelley asks.
"Absolutely," Piro says.
Here's the text of the interview that 60 Minutes did with the interrogator -
Well I guess you could say that Saddam - like most pretty dictators - used intimidation as his main means of staying in power - and he always had.
Consequently, he ALWAYS thought that way, so even when he was weak he needed to appear strong.
In my opinion, the exact same thing is going on with the Iranian leadership. They rule by intimidation and simply can't imagine thinking any other way so they NEED to appear as strong as possible - because to appear weak is to potentially lose power. Thus they faked the missile test and likely inflated other military claims.
North Korea did the same thing with their nuclear program. According to the CIA the bomb test they did was likely a fizzle and in fact MAY NOT even have been a nuclear bomb but rather a large conventional bomb made to look "dirty" so as to appear to be a nuclear device. The CIA thinks the test was failure because the explosion was VERY SMALL by nuclear bomb standards. One distinct possiblity is that the bomb test was a "near-dud" (only partial detonation). This may be the REAL reason the North Koreans decided to cave in to US negotiators and give up their nuclear program. It's quite possible that the program was essentially a failure and so the decided to try and salvage what they could and give up the program in exchange for what the US was offering in return.
This is typical behavior of bullies - the NEED to appear tougher than you actually are.
Ken
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
