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Backyard Caches of Weapons of Mass Destruction
by
Gregory J. Rummo
A report out
of Baghdad claims that a captured Iraqi scientist
has turned in plans to build a nuclear bomb. He
allegedly told his captors that Saddam ordered him
to bury the parts in his backyard until sanctions
were lifted.
So that’s where all those weapons went—the
backyards of Iraqi scientists. Who’d have thought
to look there?
Critics of ABD (Anything Bush Does for those
readers who haven’t been paying attention to these
columns) have been carping about weapons of mass
destruction, demanding that the Bush administration
produce evidence for their existence since the
28-day war in Iraq ended. Why these same critics
were willing to let Hans Blix conduct inspections
until the Second Coming remains a mystery.
They’ve even gone so far as to accuse the president
and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of being in
cahoots to cook up the whole story, presumably so
the US could dismember Iraq, seize its oil wells,
and let Bush’s buddies in the Texas Oil Patch
profit from the scheme.
Some are clamoring for the president’s impeachment.
I guess Bush and Blair had a second plan for how
they’d convince the world that their allegations of
Hussein’s stockpiles of WMD were just a figment of
their imaginations when nothing was found.
If you envision stockpiles of weapons of mass
destruction as something that would occupy the
equivalent of a Wal-mart super store, you are badly
mistaken.
Take anthrax for example. It doesn’t take much to
kill a lot of people. The envelope of anthrax
mailed to Tom Daschle’s office shortly after 9-11
contained enough spores to kill approximately 2
million people if properly dispersed.
Reports of Iraq’s stockpiles of anthrax ranged
between 2,000-8,500 liters. Even if we pick the
larger figure, 8,500 liters is equivalent to a
little more than 2,000 gallons or 38-55 gallon
drums. 38 drums would easily fit inside the back of
a truck, or spread out in various backyard gardens
in Iraq’s suburbs.
Iraq is a country the size of California. Images of
needles in haystacks are suddenly coming to mind.
We’ve already found what appear to be mobile
biological weapons factories. And those chemical
suits—what were they being used for—masquerade
parties?
Scientists reluctant to speak to UN Weapons
Inspectors before Hussein was removed from power
may still be reluctant to speak for the same
reason. This man and his two sons were evil
monsters with long tendrils. If still alive, they
are now wounded animals and potentially dangerous,
as the continued deaths of US and British troops
testifies, despite the end of official combat
operations for more than a month now.
I still have no doubt we will find convincing
evidence for the existence of WMD even if we have
to dig in the backyards of Iraqi scientists to find
them.
But my real hope is that our action in Iraq has
prevented the ultimate disaster—finding them in our
own backyard.
Gregory J. Rummo is a syndicated columnist.
Visit his website,
www.GregRummo.com
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