Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Saddam WMD tapes?

Drudge is reporting that ABC will air an Intelligence Summit's alleged 'Saddam's WMD Tapes' this evening. From CNS News:
Reportedly armed with 12 hours of Saddam Hussein's audio recordings, the organizers of an upcoming "Intelligence Summit" are describing the tapes as the "smoking gun evidence" that the Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction in the period leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which according to the New York Sun has already authenticated the Saddam tapes, has reopened its investigation into the possible existence and location of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But some long-time liberal skeptics are showing no inclination to change their minds.
And why should they change their minds? They've never let facts get in the way of their warped worldview and demented thinking, so why would they let proof get in the way, too? Continuing:
On Oct. 6, 2004, Charles Duelfer, advisor to the director of Central Intelligence on Iraqi weapons, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Saddam did not have WMD at the time of the invasion and that the weapons were likely destroyed following the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. On Jan. 12, 2005, the U.S. announced that is was stopping its search for the weapons in Iraq.

But a four-day Intelligence Summit, to be held Feb. 17-20 in Arlington, Va., is re-igniting the debate over the Iraqi WMD. The featured discussion, on Saturday, Feb. 18, is titled: "Saddam's WMD Tapes: 'The Smoking Gun' Evidence." The agenda for the event indicates that the person who will speak about the tapes is at this point "anonymous."

The New York Sun on Feb. 7 reported that Rep. Peter Hoekstra's (R-Mich.) committee had obtained the audio tapes from former federal prosecutor John Loftus. According to the report, Loftus received the tapes "from a former American military intelligence analyst." Loftus is president of the Intelligence Summit, which is a yearly gathering of experts in the fields of counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering.
The Code Pinkos are unswayed. Drats. My day has been ruined.

For the record, I'm withholding judgment until I see more. I'll say what I said earlier, though, about Iraq's possible "Baghdad Bob" moment: if you're a leftist, you had better pray to whatever tree druid or nymph that you worship that this WMD stuff isn't legit. After all, you think you have a hard time now of convincing the American people that you're serious about defense?