Peter Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Interesting comments regarding General Shinseki Could you use several hundred thousand troops then? Sure you could. But that wasn’t the plan. We couldn’t come in from the north – Turkey wouldn’t let us. We had to funnel our forces coming in from the sea and land (in the south). Once we got in, we got to Baghdad rather rapidly. We had built (forces) up to 200,000. We thought from that time on we could possibly – the people would settle down after the capture of Saddam or the capture of Baghdad. That didn’t happen either. We had to build up a police force and army and a national guard force. Was Gen. Shinseki wrong? Given what happened, it probably would have been nice to have several hundred thousand (troops). Over time, where do you get several hundred thousand soldiers? Right now we have a heck of a time keeping 130,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Comments regarding WMD Obviously, he disgrees with the survey group. Moreover, if he is correct about convoys heading to Syria and we knew about it, we were just plain dumb not to (in the words of Colin Powell) - "cut it off and kill it." TCP: The Iraq Survey Group is expected to file a comprehensive report soon on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Reports indicate that it will conclude Saddam had no WMD. But you disagree with that belief. Why do you disagree and is it more likely WMD are still inside Iraq, or have they been moved? DeLong: I think what the report will say is, just like everybody else has said, there is no proof there was WMD. There will be no definitive statement in this report. I can state, unequivocally, there was WMD in Iraq before and during the war. You have multiple-source intelligence. Also, from other Arab leaders – as Tommy Franks says in his book – King Abdullah said Saddam has WMD. President Mubarek of Egypt said you have to be very careful going in, because Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. Other leaders who have chosen not to be named said the same thing. We had technical intelligence that saw the same thing. Two days before March 19, 2003, we saw quite a number of vehicles going into Syria. We could not go after them because we said we’d give Saddam 48 hours. A lot of (Iraqi) leaders went into Syria, and a lot of WMD went into Syria. We’ve gotten indications some went into Lebanon, and probably some went into Iran. The size of Iraq is roughly, in square miles, the same size as California. Seven-eighths of the country is arid desert land. We’ve done calculations that you could probably bury 16 Eiffel Towers or Empire State Buildings and never find them in the desert. Just four months ago, they were digging for something out in the middle of the desert and they hit something. It was a MIG-25 Foxbat that the Iraqis buried in the sand. We never would have found this thing. Biological Weapons, you could put almost your whole program in a suitcase. You could probably put your whole chemical weapons industry inside a van. Yes, they did have it and right today they can’t find it. The people we’ve captured, like Dr. Germ and Chemical Ali, the murderer of the Kurds, aren’t talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_BiB_ Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Comments regarding WMD Obviously, he disgrees with the survery group. Moreover, he is correct about convoys heading to Syria and we knew about it, we were just plain dumb not to (in the words of Colin Powell) - "cut it off and kill it." 48581[/snapback] I have almost daily contact with the ISG. They are not going to say that they never existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Three suitcases? That much? Somebody the other day asked me "Well, where are Saddam's WMD's then?" I answered: "By now, probably Ohio." I think I scared him. Hell, I scared ME...I was just bullshitting him, but I was probably more right than I ever care to know. The Better Half is sleeping already. Has to get up at 5am. 47649[/snapback] Great, now you've got me scared too. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Great, now you've got me scared too. Thanks. 49006[/snapback] Try working in the intelligence field. Then you'd really be scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Try working in the intelligence field. Then you'd really be scared. 49008[/snapback] I try to stay away from anything that has to do with intelligence. Remember, I'm a Bills fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBTG81 Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Three suitcases? That much? Somebody the other day asked me "Well, where are Saddam's WMD's then?" I answered: "By now, probably Ohio." I think I scared him. Hell, I scared ME...I was just bullshitting him, but I was probably more right than I ever care to know. The Better Half is sleeping already. Has to get up at 5am. 47649[/snapback] This stevestojan creeps me out. Makes me wish I was 10 again sometimes, when there wasn't a worry in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 This stevestojan creeps me out. Makes me wish I was 10 again sometimes, when there wasn't a worry in the world. 49024[/snapback] Yeah me too, all I had to worry about was to learn "duck and cover" and where the water was in the school air raid shelter because the Ruskis were going to nuke the hell out of us. Yeah, those were the good ole days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBTG81 Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Yeah me too, all I had to worry about was to learn "duck and cover" and where the water was in the school air raid shelter because the Ruskis were going to nuke the hell out of us. Yeah, those were the good ole days. 49033[/snapback] I'm only 23, so I didn't have those problems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Suitcase Nukes At the end of the cold war Russia had suitcase nukes as well as nuclear warheads come up missing. I wonder how much one of those would go for on the black market. Then all you need to do is smuggle it into the United States, something our friends from Columbia have had no problem doing. Sleep well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_BiB_ Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Suitcase Nukes At the end of the cold war Russia had suitcase nukes as well as nuclear warheads come up missing. I wonder how much one of those would go for on the black market. Then all you need to do is smuggle it into the United States, something our friends from Columbia have had no problem doing. Sleep well... 49040[/snapback] The good part to that story is that the Russian ADM's are very, very high maintenance and are probably not usable at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts