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Whither WMD? Hunt for Iraqi weapons also search for truth

Whither WMD? Hunt for weapons turning into search for truth.

Date published: 6/29/2003

OK, FOLKS, where are those Iraqi weapons of mass destruction?

This is not a political query, but rather a question that every American who loves his country should want answered.

So, all you people who said Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons hidden under every rock--Where are they?

Everyone who claimed that Saddam was going to unleash all those biological weapons on our troops--Why didn't he?

What about all those mobile chemical factories disguised as ice cream trucks or whatever? What happened to them?

How about you folks who called the United Nations weapons inspectors inept or even dishonest for not finding weapons of mass destruction? I don't hear anyone speaking out on that subject now.

I also recall voices lifted in anger when France, Germany and Russia asked us to trust those inspectors, to seek a peaceful solution.

Four months ago, the great majority of Americans--at least if the polls were accurate--was absolutely certain that Saddam Hussein had all these horrible weapons that he was going to unleash on America and the rest of the world.

Now, almost 3,500 dead Iraqi civilians later, we can't find any of those weapons we just knew were there.

Now, as American soldiers get picked off one by one in a guerilla war that seems likely to continue as long as we remain in Iraq, those who shouted loudest for war offer a sheepish grin and change the subject when asked the above questions.

I ask just the same. Every day, I ask those who fell for the propaganda lines and pushed for war where those weapons of mass destruction are.

And I don't accept the standard cop-out, "Well, Saddam had committed all sorts of evil acts and deserved to be killed."

That's not the reason we went to war. We invaded Iraq to disarm Hussein, to get all those weapons of mass destruction that now have suddenly vanished. No one said we were invading because of Saddam's past transgressions.

Yes, Saddam may have deserved his fate--whatever that is--but that is not the point. The end does not always justify the means. If that were true, we would throw Americans in jail simply because we believe them to be crooks, not because they actually commit crimes.

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Date published: 6/29/2003