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Post by MC Habber on Mar 28, 2003 4:08:01 GMT -5
why haven't they USED them in this war? This is not meant to be a facetious question nor am I contending that Iraq does not have them, but I'd like to know why they haven't used them if they do in fact have them. It seems to me, if somebody has WMD, maybe backing them into a corner and making them desperate isn't the smartest idea. What do you think?
Also, somebody said given the detail in those satelite photos, how can you doubt the US when they say Iraq has WMD. Well, given the detail, how can it be so hard for them to provide solid evidence rather than fabrications?
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 28, 2003 7:13:41 GMT -5
Hmmm...makes me wonder about those alleged decontamination suits that were discovered. I haven't seen any evidence of them, so I'm left to surmise that: it's US propaganda, or, they exist but were planted with the purpose of making the Coalition think WMD exist and will be used, or, they exist and WMD exist and...
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Post by Cranky on Mar 28, 2003 8:32:32 GMT -5
One view.
It's absolutely true, Iraq does not have any weapons of mass destruction. Just ask the Iranians, Kurds and the French. Everything that does not suit the purpose should be dismissed as nothing more then conspiracies and fabrications.
Other view.
Any use of any types of weapons of mass destruction will utterly erase Saddam’s support in the Middle East. His entire propaganda campaign is based on the “poor us” against the “Evil Jauggernaught”.
Saddam believes he will win this by inflicting American casualties in a conventional manner through combat or terrorist means. Any use of WMD will galvanize American resolve to a fanatical level.
When you use that weapon the Allied forces will detect and destroy the launchers at origin. So those who fire them will not only get bombed but also gassed by their own weapons.
Any and all commanders on the battle field will be hunted down once there is use of WMD. As it stands, if the units melt away, the Allied forces will not bother. It’s a completely different matter if WMD are used.
The regime does not believe it has lost yet so they are not prepared to use their last card. WMD will most likely be used in the last day of the regime. In the mind of the fanatic, he has left a legacy.
The objective of a military campaign is to overcome the enemy and take control of the battlefield. It is not to go hunting in every building and in every tunnel for proof. That will be done afterwards.
Lastly, some words found in a dictionary:
Logic, common sense, knowledge.
National Enquirer, conspiracies, sensationalism.
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 28, 2003 8:59:07 GMT -5
If WMD do exist and are if they are used, many points of your scenario are likely to come to pass.
The one thing I think is not likely to occur, whether or not WMD play any role, is Saddam's loss of face (despite the fact that virtually everyone in the Arab world agrees he is a tyrant) in the region. One should not underestimate the effect on the area's population of seeing an Arab leader fighting the Infidel invader tooth and nail right to the bitter end (however it occurs). The numerous large fever-pitch anti-American protests in the area beat testimony to this. This is a cultural war as much as a political or economic one.
That Saddam will disappear from the scene is a given, I never doubted that. My point from the very beginning has been that the war and overthrow are small potatoes compared to what will happen in the region once the dust/gas(?) figuratively settles. That's when the trap snaps around the American ankle, and where they are the ones who would stand to lose face. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it, until proven otherwise.
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Post by The New Guy on Mar 28, 2003 9:26:30 GMT -5
Because he likely has a limited number.
WMD's have a limited range of effectiveness - particularily airbourne biological or gaseous chemical ones (I have my doubts about him having a nuke just yet). Sure, he could probably wipe out a division of two, but once they all crowd around Baghdad his WMD's will only be more effective.
Furthermore, long range deployment has to be a problem. Saddam has not yet ordered his planes into the sky, and likey never will. If he does, it'll be for a single soirtee as his planes (1970's MiG's I believe) are essentially sitting ducks for the coalition air force. If this is how he has chosen to deploy WMD's, then it relates back to point one.
There are also short range deployment possibilities, some of which include putting a mini-WMD inside a motor shell and lobbing it at the enemy. Saddam is a smart man - he doesn't want the US to know how he works. He doesn't want someone to rebel and turns those WMD's on him. So it's likely that the WMD's are in the hands of his most trusted, in defence of Baghdad and Tikrit.
Saddam has been playing a game thus far into the war. He hasn't put up any stiff resistance. He has playing hit and run on supply lines which means a significant portion of his force is out wandering the desert. And yet he promises that the coalition soliders will all lie dead at the gates of Baghdad.
I'm nervous for our soliders. Above all else, I worry about them. And the people of Baghdad who may have to witness a horrible, horrible spectacle.
You can bet your money though, that if it does happen CNN will be there....
Later
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 28, 2003 9:41:31 GMT -5
The Siege of Baghdad is about to begin.
Iraqi conscripts need not apply, only those with loyal tribal affiliation will be used: those who are willing to martyr themselves to the cause (however that is, and will be defined in the region).
My fear is the Saddam's planes will be used in al-Qaeda fashion as suicide bombs, laden with lethal chemical and/or biological agents.
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Post by The New Guy on Mar 28, 2003 11:00:40 GMT -5
There has been a seige on Baghdad since the start of the war. It's just that the army has finally caught up with the air force.
Everyone has loyal tribal affiliation when you have a Fadayeem al Saddam gun pointed at the base of your skull. Everyone is willing to martyr themselves when the Ba'ath party threatens to kill your children.
That's an interesting idea... and would actually be feasable with biological weapons. However, I don't know how that would work for chemical weapons. Getting the payload airbourne would be tricky - if you just rely on the impact and jet fuel to aresolize the package, you're going to have a lot of misfires. If you develop a deployment system to detonate on impact - it's not that much of a stretch on intellegence or resources to turn it into a bomb.
Interesting idea though. Saddam is saving all his planes (I think I've heard he has up to 300 somewhere) to deploy as kamakaze weapons.
*shivers*
Later
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 28, 2003 14:04:28 GMT -5
Is the block party beginning so soon?
Seems the Iranians (not surprised) and Syrians (had discounted them) want to play too. I was expecting this kind of stuff to happen post-war. Oh well.
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