I’m returning from my first personal vacation in the past two years, listening to news media reports on the discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and noting that the anti-war crowd is apoplectic.
It seems that those who want to see America lose the war against terrorism cannot accept the truth that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was a safe haven for terrorism, rife with chemical and biological weapons.
I wonder … if the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, were to order the detonation of a chemical weapon outside Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes’ studio, would the anti-war left finally believe in the existence of Iraq’s WMD program? If nothing else, it would bring new meaning to Rhodes’ shows on Friday when she likes to open by playing the song “Bounce Your Boobies.”
The anti-war crowd is living in an alternate reality. To them it doesn’t matter that the Clinton administration decried Saddam Hussein’s defiance of U.N. resolutions as he manufactured WMDs and worked on a nuclear program.
They don’t care that Saddam’s No. 2 official in the Iraqi air force, Gen. Georges Sada, has charged in his book, “Saddam’s Secrets,” that Iraq shipped its WMD stockpiles into Syria before the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
They ignore the report on Iraq’s WMD program from Israel’s top general who served as part of the multi-national contingent with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gen. Moshe Yaalon told the New York Sun that Saddam Hussein “transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria.”
Their scoffing at the dangers posed by Hussein’s regime in a post-9/11 world continued this week as Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., held a press conference to announce that the United States military had found more than 500 weapons munitions containing sarin or mustard gas.
Saddam Hussein did not report these chemical weapons to U.N. weapons inspectors, and they failed to find them in their pre-war inspections.
It’s tough getting the truth out
For disclosing the existence of chemical weapons in Iraq, Santorum and Hoekstra have been subjected to a verbal firing squad of hate from the anti-war left. Many conservatives have not been much better, citing their disappointment that the announcement was of “only” 500 old shells or canisters.
I can imagine how frustrating it must be for Messrs. Santorum and Hoekstra. You see, I’ve been in their shoes. In October 2004, I was in contact with reporters from CNS News about their discovery of Iraqi Intelligence Service documents that proved Hussein had WMDs and ties to terrorist groups.
A television ad was produced, detailing the evidence outlined in the Iraqi documents. CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel all refused to air the ad. You couldn’t even pay money to get the truth out.
Officials in the U.S. Department of Defense didn’t want to touch the story. By that time, most people in the Bush administration had given up on proving the case for war to a skeptical news media and American public.
The administration chose to make a strategic decision to “move beyond” the issue of WMDs and Iraq’s terrorist ties. Since we were already in Iraq, they reasoned, there was no point in prolonging a debate that was largely meaningless.
This was a major mistake.
The Bush administration failed to anticipate how much damage they did to their own credibility when they made the politically motivated decision to stop defending their pre-war claims.
In July 2005, I led a delegation of talk-radio hosts to Iraq as part of the “Voices of Soldiers” tour. While there, I had the chance to meet with and interview Iraqi Lt. Gen. Abdul-Qader Jassim who informed me that Iraq most certainly did have a WMD program and also trained and funded terrorist organizations.
Earlier this month, Gen. Jassim was elevated to assume the position of Iraq’s secretary of defense. I think he knows what he’s talking about.
However, when the Wall Street Journal wrote about my reporting on Iraq’s WMD program and the supporting evidence of those Iraqi documents and Jassim’s testimonial, the Journal noted that it could not prove the general even existed. I hope by now they’ve managed to track him down and ask about Saddam’s WMD and terrorist-training program.
The truth will prevail
The men and women of the United States military have made outstanding progress in the war on terrorism and specifically the mission in Iraq.
No amount of second-guessing by war critics or efforts by the anti-war crowd to undermine the missions our troops are serving in will change this.
Each day, Coalition forces are eradicating terrorist cells in Iraq and elsewhere through the Middle East. These are terrorists who would be able to blow up schools and office buildings in the United States had our troops not taken them out overseas.
The cause of our troops is a just and noble one. Their service and sacrifices have been heroic.
You can help tell this truth by helping me get the word out. The organization I lead, Move America Forward, has unveiled a new television ad that thanks the men and women of the U.S. military for a job well done in the war against terrorism. You can watch it here.
The progress of our troops in Iraq is a truth as valid and legitimate as Saddam Hussein’s ties to terrorism and his development of weapons of mass destruction.
How long will it be before those in the anti-war crowd will finally come to recognize these truths?
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