General Zinni on Sixty Minutes

In message . net,
Steven P. McNicoll writes
"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...

Of course it's a chemical weapon. But one artillery shell does not
constitute
a threat that warrants embarking on an active war over. Not only that,
but
we didn't even know for a fact that they had that one weapon when we
started the war....we apparently started it on some Mickey-Mouse
intelligence information that it took us a year to find out wasn't
accurate.


Prior to the invasion of Iraq the one point on which there was near
universal agreement was that Iraq had significant WMD.

I guess "near universal" can exclude a lot of people, then.

The only group
claimimg they did not was the Iraqi government,

And a few other folks with knowledge of the subject.

which is what they'd be
expected to say whether they had them or not.

When an Iraqi government source told you it was sunny, bring an
umbrella.

But even liars are right sometimes, even by mistake (institutionalised
falsehood has some interesting effects)
--
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Julius Caesar I:2

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

I guess "near universal" can exclude a lot of people, then.


Such as?



And a few other folks with knowledge of the subject.


Such as?



When an Iraqi government source told you it was sunny, bring an
umbrella.


Exactly.

In message . net,
Steven P. McNicoll writes
"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

I guess "near universal" can exclude a lot of people, then.

Such as?

Porton Down.

And a few other folks with knowledge of the subject.


Such as?

See above.

When an Iraqi government source told you it was sunny, bring an
umbrella.


Exactly.

But even liars can sometimes be correct.

--
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Julius Caesar I:2

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

Porton Down.


I never heard of this person. Who is he?

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

Porton Down.


I never heard of this person. Who is he?

It isn't a "he", it is the primary chemical and biological weapons research
establishment in the UK, and it has been since 1916.

"Brett" wrote in message
...

It isn't a "he", it is the primary chemical and biological weapons
research
establishment in the UK, and it has been since 1916.


Doh! And here I was thinking, for a guy who claimed there were "a lot of
people" that disputed prewar Iraq had significant WMD, how odd he could only
name one. Now it turns out he couldn't name any!

In message . net,
Steven P. McNicoll writes

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

Porton Down.


I never heard of this person. Who is he?

It's a place, not a person - and if the name means nothing to you, then
you're too ignorant to talk to. Which would be a shame.

It's where the UK does its chemical, biological and radiological warfare
work. Purely defensive, of course, and a side-effect is some
marvellously preserved downland that hasn't seen a farmer for over a
century.

Colleagues who work there were students on the same "train for field
deployment" course as me: but they were hauled off in mid-course to be
sent to Iraq to look for WMEs. They didn't find any despite being told
exactly where to look and what to look for.

This inspires a certain cynicism about our marvellous intelligence
picture of Iraqi operations.



--
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Julius Caesar I:2

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk

In article ,
"Paul J. Adam" wrote:

In message . net,
Steven P. McNicoll writes

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

Porton Down.

I never heard of this person. Who is he?

It's a place, not a person - and if the name means nothing to you, then
you're too ignorant to talk to. Which would be a shame.

Not in this case. McNicoll is one of those folks who thinks that
nothing he says really matters as long as he can keep denying it when
he's caught, after cutting out the relevant parts of his own posts.

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.

"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...

It's a place, not a person - and if the name means nothing to you, then
you're too ignorant to talk to. Which would be a shame.


Let's see, I state; "Prior to the invasion of Iraq the one point on which
there was near universal agreement was that Iraq had significant WMD."

You respond; "I guess 'near universal' can exclude a lot of people, then."

I ask; "Such as?"

And you answer; "Porton Down."

I had been thinking; "Gee, you'd think a guy that claims a lot of people
said Iraq had no WMD before the invasion could come up with more than just
one example." But it turns out you couldn't provide a single example!

By the way, if you don't know the difference between a place and a person,
then it's you that's too ignorant to talk to.

In message . net,
Steven P. McNicoll writes
"Paul J. Adam" wrote in message
...
It's a place, not a person - and if the name means nothing to you, then
you're too ignorant to talk to. Which would be a shame.


Let's see, I state; "Prior to the invasion of Iraq the one point on which
there was near universal agreement was that Iraq had significant WMD."

You respond; "I guess 'near universal' can exclude a lot of people, then."

I ask; "Such as?"

And you answer; "Porton Down."

I had been thinking; "Gee, you'd think a guy that claims a lot of people
said Iraq had no WMD before the invasion could come up with more than just
one example." But it turns out you couldn't provide a single example!

There is a difference between "knowing the names of the relevant
colleages" and "being at liberty to post them".

I went through RTMC Chilwell with a number of fellow analysts from
Porton who were immediately (mid-course!) deployed to Iraq to look for
the WME that were supposedly sure to be found. They expected to find
very little, but were willing to be surprised. And that's as much detail
as I'm happy to give.

--
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Julius Caesar I:2

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk