Thos who say "no WMD were found in Iraq are either Misinformed, or Prevaricators

I see my opponent continues to play word games, which is fine with me. If he wishes to apply theory or fact is his responsibility. The honest reader can decide independently whether the facts, as presented are valid to the discussion. News article addressing the NGIC report documenting "over 500 WMD found in Iraq": 06/23/2006 Pa. Representative Weldon reacts to WMD report By KEITH PHUCAS NORRISTOWN - Despite the popular notion that no weapons of mass destruction exist in Iraq, since 2003 the U.S. military has recovered about 500 munitions containing mustard or the nerve agent sarin, 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium and 1,000 radioactive materials in the war-torn country so far. Advertisement On Wednesday, portions of an April 2006 National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) report detailing the weapons armed with mustard or sarin was declassified. The NGIC is a Defense Department unit. The report's summary said the recovered munitions contained degraded mustard or sarin, and that the weapons had likely been in Iraq since BEFORE the 1991 Gulf War. "Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," the summary stated. United Nations Resolution 687, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on April 3, 1991, following the Gulf War, required Iraq to destroy any chemical or biological weapons under international supervision. The former Iraqi regime, however, violated this resolution by neglecting to have the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) oversee the destruction effort and for failing to declare all of its prohibited weapons. Congressman Curt Weldon, R-7th Dist., who has read the recent NGIC report, said the revelations prove that Hussein and other former regime officials lied about ridding Iraq's weapons arsenal of chemical agents after the Gulf War, thus violating the U.N. resolution. "This report specifically confirms that weapons of mass destruction existed when we went to war (in 2003)," Weldon said. In the decade that followed the 1991 Iraq war, Hussein repeatedly insisted his regime had destroyed all weapons of mass destruction. Between 1991 and 1998, the Iraqis interfered with U.N. inspectors attempting to verify compliance with the resolution, according to former U.N. chief weapons inspector Richard Butler. Weldon said the April report includes photographs and locations where chemical weapons were discovered. As well, the report lists specific dates chemical weapons were used against Iranians and Iraqi Kurds during the 1980s. "It's all there," he said. "The whole report should be declassified." The Seventh District House member said U.S. intelligence agencies have attempted to keep a lid on the latest chemical weapons revelations. "There's been a deliberate attempt to downplay it," Weldon said. Interestingly, the Bush administration, who met stiff resistance from the CIA over intelligence estimates of Iraq's prohibited weapons before the 2003 war, has not pressed to have the recent report publicized. At a Pentagon briefing Thursday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said though they recovered chemical weapons were described as degraded, they still posed a risk to U.S. troops in Iraq. "What's been announced is accurate, that there have been hundreds of canisters or weapons of various types found that either currently have sarin in them or had sarin in them. And sarin's dangerous. And it's dangerous to our forces, and it's a concern," Rumsfeld said. "They are weapons of mass destruction. They're harmful to human beings." On June 23, 2004, U.S. forces seized 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium in a nuclear facility in Iraq, according to the Energy Department. Also, U.S. Department of Energy specialist removed 1,000 radioactive materials in "powdered form, which is easily dispersed," Energy spokesman Bryan Wilkes told the BBC. The uranium, though not enriched sufficiently for use in a nuclear missile, could violate Resolution 687 that prohibited Iraq from acquiring "nuclear-weapons-usable material or any subsystems or components." According to a 2002 Congressional Research Service report, between 1991 and 1994, weapons inspectors "uncovered and dismantled a previously undeclared network of about 40 nuclear research facilities, including three clandestine (uranium) enrichment programs. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors discovered three tons of uranium remained in Iraq. UNSCOM in 1998 discovered that in 1996 Iraq had produced fresh bombs laden with mustard gas." The 2002 CRS report also noted that four tons of growth media for biological agents remained unaccounted for in Iraq. Keith Phucas can be reached at kphucasATtimesherald.com or 610-272-2500, ext. 211. Now that we've established the definition of "WMD", have documented their existence in Iraq, we will next apply a timeline. . . Thank you for your willingness to watch this debate with an open mind.