NIMA Chief Says: Iraq's WMDs Could Be In Syria
The director of an American spy agency said today that he believed that material from Iraq's illicit weapons program had been transported into Syria and perhaps other countries as part of an effort by Iraqis to disperse and destroy evidence immediately before the war last spring.
The official, James R. Clapper, Jr., a retired lieutenant general, said that satellite intelligence showing a heavy flow of traffic from Iraq into Syria just before the American-led invasion in March had led him to conclude "unquestionably" that illicit weapons material was moved outside of Iraq.
"I think people below the Saddam Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse," said General Clapper, who heads the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
Get the rest of this article from the New York Times.
Matt's Chat
I still think there are plenty of places in Iraq for Mr. Kay to focus his efforts on, but there may yet be something to this theory as well.My question is this: Why are we hearing about this now? Why not when it was happening? I assume that NIMA would have informed the Department of Defense and/or the White House. So, why haven't we heard this before? I remember hearing "whispers" about this earlier, but there really hasn't been much media coverage of this theory.
While we're on the subject, why haven't we heard conclusively what the Kuwaitis found in that raid wherein the Hindustan Times reported that chemical weapons and artifacts were recovered from a foreigner trying to smuggle items out of Iraq?
Mark's Remarks
I guess it is because we (meaning me) of the conservative bent control all the media and ...wait? If conservatives controlled the media, wouldn't they be painting a rosier picture, wouldn't they be jumping on these stories? Hmm..kind of puts a BIG HOLE in the ol' conservatives control the media department, heck, even most liberals with any sense of reality acknowledge there is a liberal slant in the media......except for when it is politically unfeasible, and they want to attack someone.....We should be thinking about asking Syria what was up with the traffic....Of course, liberals will spin this into last gasps and straws, but come on....which is it? We know the weapons didn't just disappear, and there is no evidence they destroyed them....Are they in Ted Kennedy's liquor case, because god knows he cleaned that out long ago.....
