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Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:00 AM

W. and the damage done

President Bush inherited a peaceful, prosperous America. As he exits, Salon consults experts in seven fields to try to assess the devastation.

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  • Thursday, January 8, 2009 02:40 PM

    @dikalogos

    The bottom line is that Saddam had 12 years to comply with UNSC resolutions and demonstrate that he had destroyed his WMD. He failed to do that. If he had, he would still be in power and his sons would still be alive.

    Some believe that by November 2002, Saddam had already moved his WMD out of the country. According to Sada, "On June 4, 2002, a three-mile-long irrigation dam, which had been drawing water from the Orontes River in the northwestern district of Zeyzoun, Syria, collapsed, inundating three small villages and de-stroying scores of homes…. As soon as word of the disaster was broadcast on television, help began arriving from all over the Middle East."

    Iraq was one of the countries to send aid to Syria. However, Sada claims that the Iraqi planes and trucks that traveled to Syria did not carry supplies for those in need. "Weapons and equipment were transferred both by land and by air," Sada wrote. "The only aircraft available at the time were one Boeing 747 jumbo jet and a group of Boeing 727s. But this turned out to be the perfect solution to Saddam’s problem. Who would suspect commercial airliners of carrying deadly toxins and contraband technology out of the country? So the planes were quickly reconfigured."

    Indeed, according to Agence France Presse (AFP) on June 9, 2002, "Iraq said Sunday it has sent 20 planeloads of humanitarian assistance to Syria to help victims of Tuesday’s Zeyzoun dam collapse in the north of the neighbouring country." AFP noted that Iraq would send foodstuffs, pharma-ceutical products, and "teams of specialised doctors, surgeons and chemists to Syria."

    That may not have happened, but no one really knows what happened to Saddam's WMD since Saddam never documented their destruction.

    http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ACOS-64BRQW?OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=syr

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