Who knows for sure...

Anyhow, Kay's next report is due in January 2004. Half of the 8 who they've
detained were on the "Most Wanted" list. 6 of them seem to have had jobs in
the biological weapons arena...and 2 were responsible for delivery systems.

Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those places
right before the war.



"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 17:05:40 +0000, NOYB wrote:

It's too early. David Kay's preliminary report was pretty convincing
all
by itself. However, the Bush administration knows that it will take a
lot
more to convince the most ardent naysayers. I suspect the final report
will be all the proof that anyone needs...and will be released sometime
next summer.

Maybe, but they are releasing the Iraqi weapons scientists now. Doesn't
look good for finding any WMDs.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...pons08-ON.html

Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those places
right before the war.


Would you imagine that *if* the Iraqis exported WMD to other countries it might
be do to a year's worth of warning by the Bush adminsitration?

If so, what better excuse to push the invasion into additional Arab countries
in 2004-5? Gotta get those weapons, you know. That would be consistent with the
New American Century strategy recommending that the US begin colonizing much of
the world- (as well you know, NOYB).



http://www.tomorrowsbestseller.com/w...State/book.asp

There were reports 3 months before the war that Saddam had already shipped
his WMD's to Syria...so it wasn't an "after-the-fact" excuse:


Syria denies hiding Iraqi weapons
Sharon: Israel investigating reports

JERUSALEM (CNN) --Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his country is
looking into reports that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has transferred to
Syria weapons he wanted to hide -- a claim Syria denies.

"We have such reports," Sharon said in an interview Tuesday broadcast on
Israel's Channel 2 television.

"We are in the process of verification of these reports," Sharon said. "What
we assume -- and again I say, we have not yet finalized the reports -- is
that weapons that he (Saddam) wanted to hide -- chemical weapons, biological
weapons -- were indeed transferred to Syria."

Syria said the allegation "is completely, absolutely not true," according to
a statement from the Syrian Foreign Ministry. "And it aims to divert
attention from Israel's arsenal of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
which other countries support by money and weapons to protect Israel and
help it develop."

Sharon's response was prompted by an interviewer asking whether he could
confirm that Saddam had smuggled chemical and biological weapons to Syria.
The interviewer also wanted to know if the United States was aware of the
purported smuggling.

"I imagine so," Sharon said. "The whole thing needs verification."

Syria's statement said: "This accusation against Syria is laughable because
Syria has already agreed to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and it has
called in all the countries in the region to make the Middle East the region
with no weapons of mass destruction. The only side that stands against this
call is Israel and Israel with its arsenal of these weapons is not only a
threat to Palestinians ... but a threat to the whole world's peace and
security."

A Bush administration official said if Sharon's allegations were true "this
would be further evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and
weapons of mass destruction programs and is seeking to hide them from the
world."

The official said any country approached to accept conventional weapons from
Iraq would be making a "serious mistake."

"We would urge those countries to think carefully before doing so," the
official said.

Bush has threatened possible military action against Iraq if it refuses to
abide by United Nations resolutions calling for it to disarm itself of
alleged weapons of mass destruction. Baghdad has repeatedly denied
possessing such weapons -- chemical, nuclear or biological.

On December 7 Iraq delivered to U.N. weapons inspectors 11,000 pages of what
Baghdad said were details of its weapons of mass destruction programs and
possible facilities that might be used to develop them.

U.N. Resolution 1441 -- passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council on
November 8 -- demanded the Iraqi documents be handed over by December 8.

The resolution also called on Iraq to abide by all the U.N. resolutions that
Iraq promised to follow in a cease-fire agreement reached after it lost the
1991 Persian Gulf War.


"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 17:05:40 +0000, NOYB wrote:

It's too early. David Kay's preliminary report was pretty convincing
all
by itself. However, the Bush administration knows that it will take a
lot
more to convince the most ardent naysayers. I suspect the final report
will be all the proof that anyone needs...and will be released sometime
next summer.

Maybe, but they are releasing the Iraqi weapons scientists now. Doesn't
look good for finding any WMDs.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...pons08-ON.html

"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those
places
right before the war.


Would you imagine that *if* the Iraqis exported WMD to other countries it
might
be do to a year's worth of warning by the Bush adminsitration?

Yes, it would be due to a year's worth of useless attempts at diplomacy at
the UN.



If so, what better excuse to push the invasion into additional Arab
countries
in 2004-5?

It's a great reason...and something I fully expect as soon as the '04
election is over.

Gotta get those weapons, you know. That would be consistent with the
New American Century strategy recommending that the US begin colonizing
much of
the world- (as well you know, NOYB).

They don't plan to "colonize" much of the World. However, they do plan to
remove from the Middle East the unfriendly regimes who harbor terrorists,
and are currently pursuing nuclear weapons.

Gould 0738 wrote:
Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those places
right before the war.



Would you imagine that *if* the Iraqis exported WMD to other countries it might
be do to a year's worth of warning by the Bush adminsitration?

If so, what better excuse to push the invasion into additional Arab countries
in 2004-5? Gotta get those weapons, you know. That would be consistent with the
New American Century strategy recommending that the US begin colonizing much of
the world- (as well you know, NOYB).



http://www.tomorrowsbestseller.com/w...State/book.asp

Dear dear dear the left & their turn it on when it suits them "democracy".

You don't need an "excuse" what you needed was to be sure the dictator
Saddam didn't pose a threat to you or you is a giggle given your sides
priors on lies!!!

Good on the admin for taking the initiative & I hope they always do
from here on out, what??? can you imagine AL the pal, he'd still be
putting peoples' lives at risk just to satisfy the loony left who would
rather see the US lost outright than not be the ones having total
controll over everybody's lives.

A boat broker lecturing us about "excuses" what a hoot!!


K


Here's some of Harry's lies for you, just to bring back old memories:-)



I'm doing my part to ease unemployment. I'm hiring another writer
for my


staff. Will be putting the ad on MONSTER.COM and in the Wash Post.


I need more staff because 2004 is a major election year and business
booked to date indicates we'll be drowning in work. We need to hire a
production coordinator, too. It has very little to do with the state of
the economy, other than using it as reason to defeat Republicrap
candidates.


I'm doing my part to ease unemployment. I'm hiring another writer
for my

staff. Will be putting the ad on MONSTER.COM and in the Wash Post.




We have first-class benefits, including a top-of-the-line health
insurance plan, a non-contributory defined-benefit pension plan, a 401k,
and a life insurance policy equal to annual salary. We contribute a
share of profits to the 401k on behalf of the employee. Our employees
pay $4.50 for generic prescriptions and $8.00 for non-generics, but
that's going up next year to $10 and $15. New employees get two weeks
vacation the first year, and that goes to three weeks the third year. In
addition, we have 12 paid holidays and we shut down from noon on
Christmas eve to the day after New Year's Day. We also provide 20 days
of paid sick leave a year. And we have an outside company administering
pre-tax flexible bennies for our employees.
Our fringe benefit package follows the trade union model, except, of
course, for the profit contributions to 401k's. Trade unions are
not-for-profit enterprises.
How do these compare to the bennies at your shop?

Paid? Every year? I call "bull****". With 3 weeks vacation, 12 paid
holidays, and 20 paid sick days that's 47 *paid* days off every year.
Are
they hourly employees? For a "small business", that's the road to
bankruptcy.

Boy...and you had me going there for a minute.

Not quite so simple, though you are trying hard to make it so. Our
business is up because we're on the cusp of an election year. Our
business always goes up in a major election year.
You could say we're going to be doing very well in 2004 because Bush is
such a total failure.


The 20 paid sick days aren't part of the "paid" days off unless those
days are used. None of our people abuses sick leave. In fact, no one as
yet has even come close to using 20 sick days in one year. They're there
in case they're needed.


Oh, I forgot. We also provide everyone with LTD.

The company provides an insurance plan that pays 50% of an employe's
salary for Long Term Disability. Employes have the option of purchasing
an additional 16.66%, bringing their total to 66.66%. The basic benefit
maximum is $4,000 per month. With the buy up, the limit is increased to
$10,000 per month.



Here's just some of his prior lies (in his own words pasted);

I sold off nearly $3,000,000 in new motors and boats, depressing
the new boat
industry in southern Connecticut for an entire season. Everything was
sold...every
cotter pin, every quart of oil, 30 days after I started. For near
full-retail, too.


He had just under $1,000,000 on floor plan with a
syndicate of banks led by National Shawmut of Boston. He had been a
solid customer of that back for more than 20 years and they gave him
great rates.



As far as your other complaints, well, almost every president in
my memory,
and I *remember* Truman, Eisenhower (who cheated on his wife),
Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush, lied and
participated in
deceit to one degree or another, and on issues far more important
than who
was giving them blow jobs.

Good lord. I met *every* president in the damned group except
Bush, and I
worked once for his father.



My father used to pray that the north shore of LI Sound would be
hit by
a mild hurricane. No
one injured, no on-shore property damaged, but lots of boats sunk.
Preferably early in July.


We had the Hatteras for two years. Last year, out of the cold
clear, a
broker approached me with an offer to buy. Our continued Florida
lifestyle was somewhat up in the air, because the two breadwinners
hereabouts were about to be offered long-term but temporary
assignments
they could not refuse in the Washington, D.C., area. So, after being
romanced a little, we sold the Hatt for almost precisely what we paid
for it. Not bad, after two full years of use. And I mean full
years. So,
we didn't "make" any money off the Hatt, but we didn't lose any,
either.
The proceeds were prudently invested.

The PWC was won as
a prize in a raffle.



Never mind that. Why does he have a Bilgeliner in front of his
office?
Is it a display of "Boating Don'ts?"
Yeah, when we were in the boat biz, my father always had one or two







"around the back" that he was forced to take in trade. These were
sold
as "as is, where is." He made sure the engine would start and run.
Beyond that, it was up to the prospective buyer to decide if he
wanted
it. They moved off the lot pretty quickly, partially because my dad's
main store was on a highly trafficked commercial route with lots of
manufacturing and machining and aerospace plants near by. In
those days,
workers at these places could fix anything.


Actually, Dipper, I don't think my father ever saw a Bayliner.
But he still
called bumpers bumpers.
--



Bayliner wined and dined my father a half dozen times to
entice him
into becoming its dealer. His operation was the largest small boat
dealership in its area of New England, and for 30 years, he was the
*exclusive* Evinrude dealer in a densely populated coastal county. He
also handled Mercuries. He never liked Bayliners, and referred to
them
as "jerry-built."


From 1947 until he died, he sold more than 500 outboard motors a
year from his stores, accounting for a reasonably high percentage
of *all*
outboards sold in his home state for those years.


This is a killer. My father was in the boat business dating back to
right after
the Big War. When he died and I was looking through his
warehouse, I found
wrapped in a nuclear fall-out bag (no kidding), a brand-new 1949
Evinrude 8015
50 hp outboard. The motor was a gift to my father from Evinrude for
winning some
outboard stock utility or hydroplane race.

I gave the motor to a friend of my dad's, who worked at the shop
as head
mechanic. I don't believe he ever used it and I'm sure it is still
brand-new. I
have no idea who might own it now.



He also built
boats, and I worked on a few, both wood, glass covered wood and
all fiberglass. After he died, however, we sold the biz and I've
just been an occasional boat owner.


Besides, I worked off and on in the
boat business and inherited it when he died. So, as I said, I'm
knee-deep in boat heritage.


Oh,
and I had some friends who died in the service, too, but it
wasn't for
what they believed in. They were drafted, shipped to Vietnam and came
back in body bags.


During the war, he turned out experimental brass shell casings
for the
Army and hopped up outboards for the Navy, which wanted to use
them on
smaller
landing craft. I had photos at one time of my father with Ole
Evinrude
himself.
My mother knew one of Evinrude's wives...she was a minor movie
star or
singer...I forgot which. Maybe both.



Have you ever sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii? I have.
Have you ever rounded Cape Horn? I have, twice.
Have you ever transited the Panama Canal? I have.
Have you owned more than 20 boats in your lifetime? I have.
Have you ever sailed large boats competitively? I have.
Have you ever been hundreds of miles from land in a powerboat
under your
command? I have.


My father and his chief mechanic once crossed the Atlantic in
winter in
a 22'
boat powered by twin outboards. Yes, it is possible, even the
fuel. Got a
"fireboat" welcome in NYC.




Here are some:

Hatteras 43' sportfish
Swan 41' racing/cruising sloop
Morgan 33
O'Day 30
Cruisers, Inc., Mackinac 22
Century Coronado
Bill Luders 16, as sweet a sailboat as ever caught a breeze.
Century 19' wood lapstrake with side wheel steering
Cruisers, Inc. 18' and 16' wood lapstrakes
Wolverines. Molded plywood. Gorgeous. Several. 14,15,17 footers
with various
Evinrudes
Lighting class sailboat
Botved Coronet with twin 50 hp Evinrudes. Interesting boat.
Aristocraft (a piece of junk...13', fast, held together with spit)
Alcort Sunfish
Ancarrow Marine Aquiflyer. 22' footer with two Caddy Crsaders.
Guaranteed 60
mph. In the late 1950's.
Skimmar brand skiff
Arkansas Traveler fiberglass bowrider (I think it was a bowrider)
Dyer Dhow
Su-Mark round bilge runabout, fiberglass
Penn Yan runabouts. Wood.
Old Town wood and canvas canoe
Old Town sailing canoe...different than above canoe



Sometime in the early 1960s, I was driving back from Ft. Leonard
Wood to
Kansas City in a nice old MGA I owned at the time. About halfway
home it
started raining heavily, I turned on the wipers, and EVERY SINGLE
electrical accessory and light in the car flashed on, there was a
large
popping sound and it all blew out at once. And the car caught fire. I
pulled over to the side of the road, watched the fire, removed my
license plate and hitched on home. For all I know, that old MGA
is still
there.

Sure was a pretty little car.


Puh-lease, Karen. You've not seen nor have I ever posted one
example of
my professional writings on building structure and the effects on
it of
hurricane-force winds and seismic activity. I haven't done any of
these
in at least 10 year, but at the time I was field researching,
photographing and writing these reports, they were quite accurate,
topical and well-received by their intended audiences.


A small fleet of Polar skiffs were purchased by an inshore bait,
tackle

and boat rental business on the ICW in NE Florida. These boats
were not
used on open waters. Within 90 days, cracks developed in the
liners that
also served as the deck over the flotation in the bottom of the
hulls. A
guide I know, one whose boats and engines are supplied to him by
manufacturers, also had a Polar skiff go bad on him for the same
reasons
-liner and then hull fractures.







Harry has claimed to have a 20 yrs his junior beautiful wife, he
even put a fake pic of a beautiful woman on a website once claiming it
was his "young bride", he may have a wife, although I doubt it, we don't
like nor tolerate misogynists for long.

Needless to say he's made up many "dramatic" over the top
stories over the years about this lie to feed his ego & pretend he's the
centre of attention, but as with his boat claims & other crap, there's
never once been even a shred of independently verifiable material.

After he stalked Madcow in real life, which was most
frightening, I do suspect he's very very dangerous & that this "bride"
story is his delusional appropriation of his, probably court ordered,
treating psychotherapist as "wife" (it seems he was under lock & key for
what?? over a year??? a sexual deviant maybe??), have a read of just a
small part of his BS & make up your own mind, it's all about free choice:-)


1. She *is* my bride. There are no rules that determine the end of
"bride-hood." If I want to refer to her as my bride, I may.

2. As a professional writer, I know the rules of language and am
entitled to
break them in exercise of my license.

3. I doubt many married women would object to their husbands lovingly
referring to them as brides. The connotations are pleasant.

4. She's 20 years younger than I am.



Naw. What happened was that I handled a couple of "political"
consulting
jobs funded out of the DC area to help a few candidates and defeat a
couple of ballot issues. Through no fault of mine, we won each of the
races, so some of the deep pockets types based in the DC area think I
actually *know something* about the process. I was offered a contract
that requires my presence in DC quite frequently. My bride also was
offered a job up here that represented a significant professional
career
move. So, we're "up here" much of the time and "down there" the rest of
it, except when we're "somewhere else." I've been back to Jax (well,
really south of Jax) five times since coming "up here" late last summer
and my bride just returned from a business trip there.

I swear this is true.


Here's a funny. My bride had to fly out to San Diego Wednesday and
hitched a ride on her company's corporate jet. They landed in Salina,
Kansas, which is due north of Wichita and Skippy's suburb of Derby.

So when she gets to San Diego, I get a call asking, "What the hell did
you do in Kansas...we didn't fly over one significant patch of
water...?"

Harry, you make over 500 posts a week to this group and you don't own
a boat?
And why are you so crabby?
Maybe these two factors are related?



One has to own something to use it? Hmmm. My bride drives off in
her car
every day, but she doesn't own it.

I'm not crabby. You asked for advice I gave you some. I questioned your
wanting to take a very small boat out into high seas and suddenly you
turned sour. It's your pot; you are the one stewing in it.

No, it is the boat of a friend. It is a 24' ProLine center console
with,
if I recall, a 225 hp Merc on it. It was a dark and stormy day in
January (1997) when we went out, but the sky cleared once we got out to
the Gulf Stream.


Bride and I caught and released:

1 white marlin
12-15 yellowtail snappers, maybe two pounds each. Pretty, pretty fish.
Assorted red snappers
1 amberjack
2 jack crevalle jacks
1 snook
Nondescript sharks

Did you spend a year as a line psychotherapist at a 650-bed state
hospital for forensic patients?
Did you spend a year as senior psychotherapist at a county facility for
substance abusers?
Did you spend two years as chief of therapy at a private, 200-bed
facility for the mentally and emotionally ill, at which approximately
half the patients were trying to beat drugs or alcohol?
Are you currently chief of therapy for a for a multi-practitioner
practice of some 825 patients, about a third of which are seeking help
for substance abuse problems?


Licensed psychotherapist
Screening as to character and background for each degree earned
On-going screening by faculty while in educational system
Interviews and screenings for required years of internships, plus,
at the same
time, supervision by a licensed professional.
Close professional and personal supervision by a licensed therapist
for two years
of employment before being allowed to apply for licensure
Licensure background check, submission of recommendations by licensed
practitioners
Four hour written examination on state laws
Five hour written examination on diagnosis, procedure and practice

My wife went through this before becoming licensed. Her final
internship was as a
psychotherapist at a 600-bed high security state psychiatric
hospital where, on a
daily basis, she was exposed to more danger than your average soldier.

My wife worked for a year as psychotherapist in a Florida 600-bed state
mental institution for forensic patients. She saw and treated numerous
sexual deviants who do a bit more than expose themselves. Such
"treatment"
is part of being in the mental health professions.


You see, I'm a nautical psychotherapist, and for only $125 an hour,
until their health insurance runs out, I help Bayliner owners
overcome their
feelings of boatable inadequacy.


She is a licensed, practicing
psychotherapist and often tells me I am the sanest person she sees each
day. Which can be taken any way one likes.


1. I'm married to a psychotherapist. Live-in therapy, dontcha know?
And much of
Freud is passe.

My ex-wife surpassed the anti-Christ at least a decade ago.

They're not actually "free" moments. I go to boat dealers to round-up
Bayliner owners who are trying to find one who will take their own
version of flotsam and jetsam in on trade.


1. The address listed is not a home address. It is an office.

2. I have three phone numbers. The phone number listed is not one of
mine. It has never been one of mine. The phone number *did* belong
to an
after-hours message recording hotline my wife maintained for her most
mentally disturbed patients. Some of these troubled souls were
court-ordered referrals. *Every* call to that phone number--every
call--was recorded AND because of the nature of the line, my wife had
the ability to alert the telephone company to trace the phone number of
every incoming call to that line, *even* if the person making the call
tried to block his number.

Why, you might ask? Because when you are dealing with suicidal people,
they'll liable to tell their therapist over the phone that they are
planning to take their life. If the therapist believes the threat is
real, she or he will want to dispatch emergency srvices and perhaps the
police.

In the years my wife has provided this pro bono service, she has never
received a threatening or abusive call from a mentally ill patient or
court-ordered referral. However, after the ranking Flaming Ass of this
newsgroup posted the hotline number in this newsgroup, she received a
number of abusive, foul-mouthed AND life-threatening calls. These were
mostly directed at me but, of course, I never received them BECAUSE
(duh!) the phone is not mine and I've never answered it.
Naturally, my wife alerted the authorities, with whom she works closely
because of her court-referred patients. The authorities are
investigating the callers and have involved both the FBI *and*
authorities in other states, including Florida, Georgia, California and
Texas. Working with the telephone company, the authorities have been
able to trace the origin of virtually every abusive call. And, of
course, they have the tape recordings of the abusive messages. Several
suspects have been identified. I really don't know what the outcome of
all this will be. We haven't had an update in several weeks, nor are
either of us here that interested in the sleazeballs that would make
such calls.


The phone number, of course, is "wired," so when the obnoxious
calls came in
from the idiot rec.boaters, the numbers were easy enough to trace.
The local
police handled a complaint, the local telco was involved and when
it was
discovered the point of origin was out of state, the FBI got
involved. At
least one of the idiots was caught and prosecuted. As far as I can
tell, he
has not posted here again

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 22:35:26 +0000, NOYB wrote:

Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those places
right before the war.

Syria and Iran? I just don't buy it. Iranians saw those WMDs first hand
in the Iran/Iraq War. Iran may have lost as many as 1 million killed or
maimed in that war. No way would they take Iraq's WMDs, nor would Saddam
give them Iran. As for Syria, they sided with Iran in that war, and only
recently reopened their border with Iraq. While it is possible, I think
it is very unlikely Syria has Iraq's WMDs. A far more likely scenario, is
that Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans cherry picked the intelligence
leading to this war.

http://www.radioleft.com/article.php?op=Print&sid=1192

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten...512fa_fact#top

"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 22:35:26 +0000, NOYB wrote:

Additionally, there are an untold number that fled to Syria, Sudan, and
Iran...likely in the same convoys that shipped the weapons to those
places
right before the war.

Syria and Iran? I just don't buy it. Iranians saw those WMDs first hand
in the Iran/Iraq War. Iran may have lost as many as 1 million killed or
maimed in that war. No way would they take Iraq's WMDs, nor would Saddam
give them Iran.

You need to check your history a little bit. I seem to remember Saddam
flying his fighter jets to Iran during the first Gulf War to save them from
being destroyed. They were never returned, however.



As for Syria, they sided with Iran in that war, and only
recently reopened their border with Iraq.

They're also controlled by Baathists.

While it is possible, I think
it is very unlikely Syria has Iraq's WMDs. A far more likely scenario, is
that Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans cherry picked the intelligence
leading to this war.

http://www.radioleft.com/article.php?op=Print&sid=1192

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten...512fa_fact#top


When you get conflicting intelligence, and you haven't had inspectors on the
ground in Iraq since 1998, you're always going to "cherry pick" the
intelligence that best backs your hypothesis. I believe the intelligence
suggests he had WMD's, and either hid them well or shipped them to Syria for
safe-keeping. You believe the intelligence that suggests that he didn't
have WMD's. Two sides to every coin...

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:58:40 +0000, NOYB wrote:

You need to check your history a little bit. I seem to remember Saddam
flying his fighter jets to Iran during the first Gulf War to save them
from being destroyed. They were never returned, however.

Not only weren't they returned, but some were incorporated into the
Iranian Air Force and used to attack Iraqi targets. I doubt Saddam was
dumb enough to repeat that mistake. I would also like to point out that
Iran has moderated it's tone since those days. There is a sizable push
from within for modernization and democracy.


As for Syria, they sided with Iran in that war, and only
recently reopened their border with Iraq.

They're also controlled by Baathists.

The Baathists split years ago. The Syrian and Iraqi Baathists are
competitive interests. Although, I would agree that *if* WMDs were moved,
Syria would be a more likely place than Iran.


When you get conflicting intelligence, and you haven't had inspectors on
the ground in Iraq since 1998, you're always going to "cherry pick" the
intelligence that best backs your hypothesis.

Yeah, but ... before going to war, I would suggest one needs more than an
hypothesis. Proof would be nice. Also, wouldn't it be better to let the
intelligence lead you to your hypothesis, rather than "cherry picking" to
support your preconceived hypothesis.

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:58:40 +0000, NOYB wrote:


I believe the intelligence
suggests he had WMD's, and either hid them well or shipped them to Syria
for safe-keeping. You believe the intelligence that suggests that he
didn't have WMD's. Two sides to every coin...

Saddam *had* WMDs. We all know that. The question is what happened to
them, and frankly, I don't know. But I have read the New American Century
policy papers, and I don't want this to turn into some bizarre shell game
where we invade one country after another looking for WMDs *without* ever
seeing any. The reason given for the invasion of Iraq was WMDs and the
threat Iraq posed to us. I would suggest this administration has a duty
to the American people to explain what happened to them, and that duty
hasn't been satisfied by their ever mutating reasons for this war.

"NOYB" wrote in message m...


[snip]


72% of this country has a *favorable* opinion of the man "as a person".
Since the left's hate for the man
dominates about half of the news (and *all* of NPR's news), you would think
it was higher than 19% of this
country that so despises him.

I tend to think the Bush is liked a lot more than most liberal
screamers would want the public to believe. Harry, jps, et al
wouldn't have to **** up this newsgroup with so much junk if Bush were
*really* doing so poorly. They need to SELL Bush's failure. It ain't
selling itself. Turns out the public isn't as stupid as most
DaschleDems thought.

But I disagree with your opinion of "NPR's news".

I am one of those republicans that thinks *NPR* does a pretty good job
with NEWS. Their news broadcast, like Morning Edition, and programs
like All Things Considered I think are quite objective.

What you get locally from your local public radio station can be
totally different. But any slant "does not necessarily refelct the
opinion of NPR."