{"id":1859,"date":"2005-11-04T15:27:49","date_gmt":"2005-11-04T19:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theanchoressonline.com\/2005\/11\/04\/no-wmd-because-clinton-got-them-all\/"},"modified":"2017-03-16T23:27:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T23:27:44","slug":"no-wmd-because-clinton-got-them-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2005\/11\/04\/no-wmd-because-clinton-got-them-all\/","title":{"rendered":"No WMD because “Clinton got them all!” UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ohhhhhh.<\/p>\n

I just got an email from someone, who, after calling me some ugly names, informed me that the reason we found no WMD in 2003 is because Clinton BOMBED THEM AND GOT THEM ALL<\/em> back in 1998, and Bush knew it. Amazing. Clinton \u201cGOT THEM ALL\u2026\u201d \u2013 apparently he knew exactly where they were and \u201cgot them all\u201d in just a few days bombing.<\/p>\n

Which doesn\u2019t quite explain why he and the Democrats were still talking about them in 1999<\/a>, and 2000? And 2001<\/a>, and so on?<\/p>\n

Either the WMD were there, or they were not. Either both administrations believed they were there, or both lied. If Clinton \u201cgot them all\u201d in 1998, there would have been one hell of a lot of (appropriate) press coverage celebrating his almighty achievement of having disarmed the Beast of Baghdad. Please.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong>Jonah Goldberg prints a must-read email<\/a> from a fellow who was \u201cthere\u201d when \u201cClinton got them all\u2026\u201d It\u2019s long, but DO read it all!
\n
\nI was a squadron commander at the time of Desert Fox in 1998 (we called it \u201cDeny Christmas \u201998\u201d) and while there was a sense that Clinton\u2019s order to attack Iraq at that point had a tinge of \u201cwag the dog\u201d to it, we also knew that this was a long time in coming. (In addition to the Feb 98 comments you cite, Clinton also warned that Saddam could pass his WMD to \u201cshadowy\u201d
\nterrorists who traveled unseen among us\u2013sound familiar?). As things deteriorated throughout the spring, summer and fall of 98, Clinton was under pressure, from both Dems and Republicans, to carry out a substantial attack against Iraq. He had been criticized for waging \u201cpin-prick\u201d strikes that accomplished little of substance. You might recall Bill Cohen hitting the
\nSunday chat shows that fall with his 5lb bag of sugar and claims that a similar amount of Saddamite anthrax would devastate DC and its environs.<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact, on Veteran\u2019s Day, November 1998, we were spun up for an attack on Iraq that was called off only after Saddam backed down. B-52s were actually en route from Diego Garcia when Clinton called off the raid. Thus, when Richard Butler pulled UNSCOM out of Iraq in December, Clinton was under intense pressure to \u201cdo something\u201d\u2013not because of Monica, but because of
\nthe apparent collapse of inspections and the threat of Saddam\u2019s WMD. So, we deployed for Desert Fox\u20134 days of ineffectual bombing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve attached a link<\/a>to a piece I recently published on Desert Fox (print versions in US and UK are forthcoming in Jan 06).<\/p>\n

It considers the operation from the perspective of the proper use of airpower, which may be of little interest to you. Still, here is what I think is important to the current discussion that many, including and especially Democrats, forget: Desert Fox was carried out by the US and UK
\nonly; the French dropped out of Southern Watch operations as a result of the brief campaign and called for the lifting of sanctions. Moscow recalled its ambassadors from London and Washington in protest and the Chinese dubbed the raids an act of international terrorism. Most Arab states refused us the use of their soil for combat sorties (Turkey, as well, opted out). Again, does this sound familiar? Clinton made thinly veiled references to regime change as well, generating speculation in the media that taking Saddam out was our real goal (though an unrealistic one, as I argue that a 4-day air campaign, limited to 100 targets, would hardly unseat a ruthless tyrant like Saddam). Yet, let\u2019s not forget the Oct 98 Iraq Liberation Act, either, that established regime change as US policy long before GWB became president. It\u2019s clear to me that the Clinton Administration certainly \u201choped\u201d Desert Fox would bring about a collapse of Saddam\u2019s regime\u2013but hope is not a plan. But long before OIF, the \u201cinternational community\u201d regarded Saddam and his weapons as an Anglo-American problem and cared little about Baghdad\u2019s lack of compliance with UN resolutions and inspections. President Bush\u2019s
\nopponents want us to think that the choice was between a neat, tidy and \u201csafe\u201d status quo with a WMD-less Iraq, or regime change and a bloody insurgency. The situation that emerged from Desert Fox, in my view, puts the lie to that. In fact, Desert Fox was the last major military
\nconfrontation between the US and Iraq prior to OIF, and its consequences set the stage for our diplomatic struggles in the run-up to OIF.<\/p>\n

Our knowledge of Saddam\u2019s WMD stockpiles and programs remained frozen in time from 1998 until 2003, since Desert Fox failed to induce Iraq to cooperate with UNSCOM. Indeed, Saddam declared victory\u2013and rightly so, in my view<\/strong>. The sanctions, such as they were, remained, but the inspectors were gone and the tyrant remained securely in power. And for those Dems who claim that Clinton \u201cgot it all\u201d (Saddam\u2019s WMD, not Monica) during Desert Fox, they should know that we purposely avoided targeting what we thought were \u201cknown\u201d stockpiles. We feared the release of chemical agents and bio toxins that would cause massive collateral damage. Of the 100 targets, 11 were directly WMD-related, and they were nearly all tied to his missile delivery systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In summary, there was a real sense of urgency that Saddam was slipping the noose and something had to be done. Those who wish to understand our view of the threat posed by Iraq pre-OIF, need to become familiar with this often overlooked operation.<\/p>\n

Powerline is wondering about it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ohhhhhh. I just got an email from someone, who, after calling me some ugly names, informed me that the reason we found no WMD in 2003 is because Clinton BOMBED THEM AND GOT THEM ALL back in 1998, and Bush knew it. Amazing. Clinton \u201cGOT THEM ALL\u2026\u201d \u2013 apparently he knew exactly where they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,251,272],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bush-bad","category-the-fourth-estate","category-war-on-terror"],"yoast_head":"\nNo WMD because "Clinton got them all!" UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ohhhhhh. 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